A/N : Thanx to those who reviewed - Elizance, Amandamanda3, lilmisscookiemonster, Mr Lennox I pressume, Charlene, evilsmiley1, wigi. I'm really enjoying writing this fic and I'm so glad that you're enjoying reading it :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 5

"Buffy, we can't stay in here all night" Willow carefully pointed out to her friend, afraid of the reaction she might get.

"I know" Buffy sighed, running a hand tiredly over her face "but I can't face having to talk to him Will, not right now" she shook her head defiantly and began to pace the length of the ladies bathroom as the red head had an idea.

"I could ask him to go, give you some space" she suggested, but still Buffy's expression was negative.

"You know how stubborn he is, there's no way..." her sentence tailed off before she suddenly realised something "I've got it" she smiled, eyes fixed on a point across the room. Willow followed her gaze and gasped.

"Buffy, you can't be serious!" she exclaimed "You're gonna go out the window and leave me in here? How do I explain that?" she complained, as Buffy prised the window open to it's full space and tried to calculate if she could fit through the gap "Besides" Willow continued "how ridiculous do you wanna seem? You're engaged to Riley now, you're marrying him in a week, what difference does it make if William is here or not?"

Buffy closed the window again with a thump, her back still to her friend as she sighed.

"I know you're right" she admitted, turning back "but it's all just so weird and I have no idea what to say to him...apart from 'you're a complete ass!'"

"I get that" Willow nodded slightly "but you have to talk to the guy sometime, even if it's only for him to apologise and you to yell at him, it has to be done" she smiled encouragingly, hoping to bring some sanity and adult decency back to the conversation.

"I know" Buffy finally conceded "but not tonight" she begged "I just can't face it right now, I need time to process the fact that he's back and everything"

There was a moments silence before Willow snapped her fingers, the proverbial light bulb appearing above her head.

"Well, maybe I have an idea..."

- - - - - - -

Spike was at a loss as to know what to do for the best. A part of him wanted to pound on that door until Buffy came out and faced him or he could just barge in. Since he'd seen no other girls go in or out of the bathroom it was a safe bet the only people in there were Buffy and Willow so it wouldn't really matter. Another part of him told him to be understanding, told him to wait until she was ready to talk and then explain himself. The final third told him he was a stupid git and he should just walk away now, bundle Anya into the car, drive off into the night and carry on as he had for the past four years.

Spike wasn't fully sure he wanted to go with any of the three ideas. If he did talk to Buffy he didn't know what to say to her. Sorry wasn't going to cut it and besides she was marrying another bloke in a week! But if he didn't talk to her...he wasn't sure he could walk away again.

To a certain degree his decisions were made for him as the bathroom door opened and Willow stepped out.

"She comin' out now?" Spike asked, trying to see past his old friend and finding she wouldn't let him.

"Still no" she admitted, taking hold of the man's arm and carefully steering him down the hallway "William there's some stuff I think I need to say" she said slowly and with a slight frown at her strange behaviour, he nodded and let himself be led around the corner.

He had no idea that whilst Willow rambled on about the past and the future and whole lot of nothing very important, Buffy was taking her opportunity to sneak out of the ladies room and run right through the club to the exit.

Some of the girls called to her as she bolted past but they soon went back to their drinks and some random men they'd met, not paying too much attention to the drama of Buffy's life. She should have been annoyed that they didn't care enough about her, but all she could think of was how much William had hurt her four years ago. All the emotions he'd caused kept on washing over her just as they had back then and as her feet pounded the pavement back to her apartment she was reminded of a dream she'd had almost constantly for weeks after her non-wedding...

Flashback

Buffy grinned as she climbed out of the wedding car, her mother and best friend by her sides. They ascended the stairs to the front door and Joyce turned to her daughter, helping to straighten her veil.

"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 reached into his pocket and his fingers tightened around a piece of paper there. He was about to take it out and hand it to Buffy when William came bounding up the steps, much to his bride's surprise.

"William? What's going on? Why aren't you waiting inside?" the blonde wasn't sure whether to laugh at his ridiculous behaviour or frown with worry that he wasn't where he should be.

"Don't worry so much, pet" he smiled as he kissed her cheek, sharing a pointed look with Xander as he walked by to go into the church.

"You weren't gonna run out on me, were you?" Buffy's eyes filled with tears at the very idea and William firmly shook his head.

"Just last minute nerves, luv" he promised her, "There's nothing I'd rather be doing today than marrying you" he said so honestly that it only made the bride want to cry all the more.

"Then let's get inside" Joyce urged and William and Xander hurried to their positions at the front of the building, whilst Buffy controlled the tears that were threatening to pour down her cheeks.

In moments the music was playing and the three women were gliding down the aisle towards the groom and his best man. Vows and rings were exchanged and Buffy and William were pronounced to be husband and wife at which point he happily kissed the bride.

End Flashback

That was the point where Buffy always woke up, painful tears cascading down her face as she realised it was still just a fantasy. William had left her that day and she had never seen him again...until tonight. Those same tears were on her cheeks now as she was just yards away from the apartment block where she lived. She stopped just short of the main door.

Up there in apartment 24B was her boyfriend and fiancé, Riley Finn. She loved him and he adored her, and up until a couple of hours ago those two facts were the things she was most sure of. Now she was stuck half way between the present and the past, not knowing which way to turn. She leant against the wall of the building a few feet from the door, realising only now she'd stopped running that she was physically shaking. If William's return could do this to her, without her even really talking to him, what did that mean for her future with Riley?

"...and so I think it's important that I tell you that Buffy has a fiancé now and they're getting married in a week and..." Willow was still rambling and Spike had to admit he was really only half listening, his mind still whirring with thoughts of Buffy, both the girl he'd left behind and the woman he'd seen tonight.

"Willow you did this part already" he said tiredly, truly not wanting to offend her but starting to wonder why she was still talking!

"That's not the point" she said looking slightly worried when he moved to walk away, "don't walk away from me when I'm talking, I..." she fumbled for something else to say as he looked back at her expectantly, "You have to stay here, because I..."she wracked her brains for an excuse but couldn't find one. She cracked so easily under-pressure and William was giving her a look that said he knew something was going on.

"Are you stalling me?" he asked, head tilted and a frown marring his features.

Closing her eyes and sighing in defeat, Willow nodded her head, opening her eyes just in time to see William running after his first love.

She wasn't in the club anymore, he noticed that immediately, but Anya was there, propping up the bar, knocking back doubles like it was going out of fashion. Of course he felt a little bit bad about the way he'd treated her tonight, but they'd always been that way with each other. Their relationship was based on raw, passionate sex, and as much as he enjoyed that activity, he couldn't honestly say he loved her, and he was certain she didn't love him either. Still, she'd played a large part in his life these past few years...

Flashback

William was feeling very lost and alone on the world. It was a little over a year, three hundred and eighty nine days to be exact, since he'd left Sunnydale and a part of him still felt he would be better off heading back there. He often dreamt of the little town that he'd called home for the four best years of his life, arriving there to have Buffy and his friends waiting to welcome him with open arms, but it was just that, a heavenly dream that always brought him pain when he awoke in the morning.

Today was William's twentieth birthday, and he was spending it propping up a bar, spending the last of his money on alcohol that the staff obviously believed him old enough to buy. Here he thought back over the past thirteen months, leaving Buffy, travelling back to England to stay with his grandparents for a while, deciding to go back to Sunnydale and making it as far as LA before bottling out and jumping on the first train out. He visited all the places he wanted to see, living off savings, money from his grandparents and taking part-time work at bars and in restaurant kitchens.

When he arrived in Vegas, he was almost completely out of cash and his birthday 'celebrations' would be short-lived if he were to save enough to pay for his room tonight.

"Stupid idiot!" he heard a young woman begin before cursing colourfully. He turned to see a girl with dark and blonde streaked hair, sitting on a barstool a little way down, yelling into a cellphone.

"And what am I supposed to do?!" she raved, "I have drunken women waiting and no gorgeous man to get naked for them!"

William's eyes went wide as her words reached his ears and he soon looked away when the girl with the phone caught his eye.

"I don't care if you've suddenly realised your sexuality, get naked for men on your own time not mine!" she continued, before coming to an abrupt halt and continuing with her curses as she slammed the phone down on the bar, obviously the guy on the other end had hung up.

"Can I get you a drink, luv?" William offered kindly, seemed like she was a weird bint but the girl was having a rough night and he knew he'd appreciate the offer in similar circumstances.

"I don't need a drink" she snapped, her head in her hands, "What I need is a handsome young man with a body to die for, the ability to take his clothes off in an alluring way, and who's desperate for cash"

'Desperate for cash' was the part that met Spike's ears most fiercely, he was indeed that, but from what she was saying the vacancy she was trying to fill was not exactly for reputable employment.

"You wanna explain that to me slowly?" he asked, checking he was understanding her correctly. He soon found out he was indeed correct in his assumption that she was agent to a stripper and was now looking for a replacement since her latest 'employee' had ditched her.

Maybe it was the amount he'd had to drink, maybe it was his longing for further excitement in his young life, or perhaps he just wanted the money he knew it would bring, but in moments William found himself offering his services to the girl who's name was seriously and formally given as Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins.

After calming down from a severe laughing fit, the young woman encouraged William to stand up. She circled him like a predator, looking him up and down in a worrying fashion before announcing, 'Yeah, I think I can make this work'

End Flashback

Spike's mind was soon back on Buffy, but he realised he was out of luck, as he exited the club and found she was nowhere to be seen, but this was not over.

"'Scuse me mate" he called to the nearest person he saw, "Did you see a girl come this way, bout this high" he gestured, "blonde, early twenties, might have been upset" he winced at the very thought of the last part. The man shook his head but the young woman with him looked thoughtful before saying she'd seen a girl of that description run past about five minutes ago. She pointed in the direction she thought Buffy had gone and with a quick 'thankyou' Spike pelted after her, hoping against hope he could catch her.

"Excuse me" he called to the doorman of a hotel he reached, giving the man his ex-girlfriends description and asking if he'd seen her. His luck it seemed was in as the man pointed down the next street and as Spike headed down towards the building on the corner, he found Buffy leaning against the wall there with tears in her eyes.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : More coming soon! Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter :-) Thanx.