A/N : Hello all! Yeah, I know, it's been a while. I have reasons for my absence I swear, the main one of which is my friend has got me completely hooked on an online BtVS/AtS Trading Card Game. Seriously, it's so addictive but really fun if you like that kinda thing. Anyway, enough of that, because I'm sure you're much more interested in the new chapter! Thanx to; Amandamanda3, spikeswife1, Celestria-17, Lindsay, Lolita, teehee32, Mr Lennox I pressume, CursedBlondie, samsarah, darkmistress013, Buffy Summers, msberry, naiya-isis, sunnyhell, iluvglorfindel, fashiongrrl, wicked-angel3, demona424, wigi, for all the awesome reviews. Hope you like this chapter...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 3

"Oh my goddess!" Willow gasped hands flying up to cover her mouth as the music in the club changed and out from behind a curtain came a man in tight black and leather clothing, with bleached blond hair, and a black mask across his eyes like Zorro.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked drunkenly as she tried to turn around on her stool without falling off it in the process. She'd heard all the girls squeal and scream but they'd been doing that all night so she hadn't taken much notice until she heard Willow's reaction.

As Buffy stumbled off her seat and turned herself around to face the scene she was confronted by possibly the most attractive thing she'd ever seen in her life before.

"Enjoy it while you can!" Cordelia yelled to her as the stripper danced and gyrated in front of them.

"He's a stripper?!" the blonde's alcohol-soaked brain suddenly realised as the red shirt disappeared from his body and the black t-shirt from beneath it looked as if it wouldn't be far behind. As drunk as Buffy was, she really hadn't been expecting this and she was so embarrassed to know this guy was dancing and removing clothing for her! As she backed up against the bar, covering her face with her hands and blushing profusely she couldn't help but peek through her fingers as the stripper peeled off his other shirt and all the women screamed for more.

The dancers moves seemed to beckon the girls toward him, like he wanted them to touch him.

"Go for it!" Darla and Harmony both encouraged Buffy but she shook her head wildly and refused point blank to go anywhere near him. Willow stood by her friend, wanting to be disgusted by such a display but unable to remove her eyes from the sight.

Cordelia soon decided that if Buffy wasn't going to take advantage then she would. She willingly got her hands onto every available part of the nameless man and he didn't seem to mind at all, as the rest of the girls chanted for him to take the rest off and a few decided he should take the mask off too. As nice as he looked from the neck down they wanted his identity.

Buffy continued to watch through her fingers as the guy whispered into Cordelias ear and she laughed as she ripped off his pants that weren't as attached to him as they first seemed.

Still they continued to dance, though it looked more like a certain bedroom activity than regular dancing, since now all the guy had left on was his mask and boots and a scrap of red material that barely passed for underwear.

"Take it off! Take it off!" Darla began to chant and the rest of the girls soon joined in, not just those there for Buffy's Bachelorette party but literally almost every girl in the club, except for a still very embarrassed Buffy herself and also Willow.

- - - - - - -

Spike thought he'd got a good crowd tonight. The girls had started screaming before he'd barely started moving, which meant they were probably fairly drunk. That would mean they were more excitable but less able, so he probably wouldn't have too much trouble from them - he was wrong about that.

He suspected the brunette that came to dance with him was probably the bride-to-be, it didn't really matter whether she was or she wasn't. She did what they all did, enjoyed getting their hands on him and helping him remove what needed to be removed. Now they were all getting a little too much and there was absolutely no way anything else was coming off him tonight. As Cordy's hands went for places he refused to let them roam any longer, he managed to dodge away and headed for the curtain as the music died down. He'd almost made it, when Harmony yelled something about his cute hair and a hand shot out around the back of his head, making the mask slip from his face. He spun round to see what was going on and came face to face with a girl he hadn't seen in years...

- - - - - - -

"I swear Buffy, I didn't know about this" Willow assured her friend as the stripper finally disappeared behind the edge of the curtain.

"It's okay Will" she said, taking her hands away from her face "I just..." the blonde's sentence did not get finished as she looked up right when the stripper turned back, and she came face to face with a man she hadn't seen in years...

Flashback

"Oh Willow, this is it" Buffy gushed, "I can't believe it" she grinned as she straightened out the skirt of her long white dress and asked her bridesmaid, for the twentieth time, if her veil was straight.

"You look beautiful, Buff" the red-head smiled, "You really do"

"And so do you" she told her friend with a grin.

The car pulled up outside the church and the ladies piled out, Buffy, her best-friend/bridesmaid, and her mother who would be giving her away.

"This is it" Joyce smiled as they walked over to the steps that led into the church, "Not long now until my baby is a married woman" she had tears in her eyes as she spoke and Buffy's lip trembled.

"Mom, please" she implored her, "If you cry then I'll cry and I really don't want to look like a panda when William sees me" she smiled.

"Sorry sweetheart" her mother apologised, "Now for the last time, are you sure you have your four good luck things?"

Buffy took a deep breath and recited; "Something old - Grandma's brooch, something new - my dress, something borrowed - your necklace, and something blue..." she trailed off as her face went ridiculously red, "my garter" she whispered.

Joyce rolled her eyes as Willow giggled before the three women all took a deep breath and faced forward to go into the building. Willow put her hand on the door to open it, when suddenly it opened all by itself and her other best friend came hurrying out.

"Hey girls" Xander laughed nervously as he came outside "you look gorgeous"

"What are you doing Xan?" Buffy frowned "You should be waiting up front with William, you are best man after all"

"I know" the brunette looked pained as he took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the bride. She smiled as she saw her name on it in William's elegant handwriting. Unfolding the paper, she read the words he'd written...

'My dearest Buffy,

I hardly know where to begin with this letter, because I hardly know where to begin with the feelings I have for you. I love you, I hope you know that, and I thought we would be together forever, that's why I asked you to marry me. I didn't realise you were going to want to move so fast. These past few weeks I've started to feel like maybe we should stop and think about what we're doing, but I never said anything because you were so happy and I thought if I just concentrated on how happy you were I would be the same, but I'm not. Don't ever think that I don't love you, because I swear to God I always will, since I don't know how to stop, but I can't marry you today sweetheart...'

The paper dropped from Buffy's hands, the rest of it's message left unread as a flood of tears fell from her eyes.

Across the road, William watched from the back of a cab, forcing back his own tears as he told the driver to put his foot down, now. In his head he replayed the words he'd written in that letter to her. He'd read it over and over wondering if he was doing the right thing, the result being he knew it's message, word for word.

'...I can't marry you today sweetheart. If I did I would just hurt you later on. I'm not ready to be tied down, and I know I should have spoken up sooner, but now its all too late. I know you could never love me again after this, and I can't bear to live in this town with you when I know you'll be forced to hate me. I'm leaving Sunnydale, and I'll be gone before you receive this letter.

I'm sorry, Buffy, but it's for the best.

All my love

William'

He'd planned to be gone before she got the letter, just like he'd said, but morbid curiosity made him want to see her in that dress. She'd fussed about the wedding so much, told him over and over about this beautiful dress she'd bought to wear just for him. The moment he saw her in it would be the last moment he ever saw her, or so he thought...

End Flashback

"Buffy?!" Spike gasped at the sight of her across the room.

"Oh my Goddess!" Willow said for about the twelfth time that night as Buffy got to her feet, eyes wide and gaping as she stared at him.

"William?!"

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Well, there was some more explanation, some Spike stripping, and the meeting of Buffy and Spike. Now the fun really begins! Reviews are all very welcome as always.
If you've been reading my other fic 'So Mote It Be' I'm updating that too tonight. Will hopefully update 'Our Little Family' and 'Innocence' before the end of the week.
Extra note; if you're intersted in the Trading Card Game I talked about in my other note, go to www. zassy. net /fire (take the spaces out)