A/N : So glad you guys like this little Christmassy Spuffy sequel. As you may have noticed, it's only going to be three chapters long (hopefully the last part will be posted on Friday night!) but I think it'll be good too. Of course I need to hear all your opinions so please keep reviewing.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 2

"You think anybody would notice if I just wore this all the time?" Buffy joked about her wedding dress that she adored.

"Might look kinda suspicious in a nightclub" Willow told her with a smile.

"Okay" the blonde sighed, taking one last look in the mirror, "Besides I can't see Spike while I'm dressed like this, not til Sunday" she said with an excited grin as she reached for the fastening at the back of her dress. With their backs to the door neither she nor Willow noticed a figure appear there.

"Well, if it ain't Princess B of Castle Giles" Faith smirked, attracting the attention of all three girls in the room. Dru had appeared to have fallen asleep but was now instantly awake, not wanting to miss a thing.

"I'm the only princess" she snapped, almost angrily and Faith's eyes shifted from her cousin to the pale skinned girl on the bed.

"Is that right?" she checked and Willow looked worriedly between all three of the other girls.

"Um, I think maybe I should get Dru back to her room" she said, encouraging Spike's sister to get up and manoeuvring her past Faith and out the door, muttering something about Tara being worried by now, and it being time for Dru's meds.

"Faith" Buffy said as she stared at her, "It's been a while" she said flatly, though deep inside she was really quite pleased to see her cousin.

"What, no hug?" she smirked, holding out her arms as if she genuinely expected it.

"In this dress?" Buffy smirked right back, "No way!"

Faith laughed her trademark filthy laugh at that and Buffy couldn't help but do the same. She really had missed her, even though most memories of her 'past life' as she now called it were not so great.

"Uh, you wanna help me out of this?" Buffy gestured to her wedding dress and the array of tiny buttons and catches on the back that she couldn't unfasten herself. With a nod Faith gestured for her to come over to where she was sitting and she helped out as she was asked.

In minutes the blonde was back in a tight T-shirt and jeans and carefully zipping her wedding dress into it's protective cover.

"Bet that thing cost more than I can drink in a night" Faith smirked and her cousin looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling.

"Maybe" she said, "If you were having a slow night"

"Been plenty of those lately" Faith said, almost sadly, looking down at her hand as it fiddled with the strap of her boot, "Kinda weird going out on the town alone"

Buffy frowned at that, putting dress firmly away in the closet and moving to sit down next to her cousin.

"C'mon Faith" she said, shoving her playfully, "You're never alone for long, are you?"

"I'm not talkin' about stallions, B" she rolled her eyes, "I mean, please, like I can't get a guy if I got an itch that needs scratching, that ain't a big deal, not with this body and the moves I can bust" she smiled as she thought of a few special guys she wouldn't mind seeing again, but her grin soon faded as she turned and looked at Buffy.

"I guess I'm just feelin' a little out in the open without my gang" she shrugged, "What with you over here gettin' all loved up with Blondie, and Angel... well, we both knew we were gonna get bored some day... I dunno what I'm sayin', I just..."

"Faith" Buffy interrupted, getting her attention, "I missed you too" she said with a hint of a smile and the brunette smiled back, just slightly before she laughed and looked away.

"Yeah, right" she scoffed, "Whatever" pretending it all meant nothing. She didn't share feelings or show affection, and did a good impression of a person that wasn't bothered what anyone thought or if nobody liked her. Buffy knew better. She herself had hidden her true self for a long time, and could now see the facade Faith was hiding behind, and beyond it.

"So, this what they teach you in good old England?" the brunette joked, leaning back on her hands and staring up at the ornate mouldings on the ceiling, "Good manners, how to dress right, and share your feelings, or what?"

"Not exactly" Buffy shook her head, "You do know this is real life, and not some stupid play about a common girl and a Professor, right?"

"At least they let you keep your sarcastic mouth, B" Faith smirked at her for that, "I guess you didn't change so much after all"

"You don't think so?" Buffy frowned slightly. She thought she'd changed quite a lot, and for the better to, and yet here was Faith who had known her the best of anyone before she came to England, and she was saying she was almost exactly the same.

"Sure, you dress fancy, and you maybe don't have the 'tude and all but, that stuff was never you anyway, cous" Faith shook her head, "You were all dressed up in big sisters clothes with not a clue what to do with 'em or why you were there in the first place" she explained, "This was always what you wanted. The princess dream, the handsome knight to sweep you off your feet, and the castle in the sky, where you can live happily ever after"

Buffy looked thoughtful for a while before she answered.

"Maybe" she sighed, "You have no idea how happy I am right now" she smiled, feeling a little silly for admitting it, especially to Faith who she didn't really expect to understand, "Spike is... he is everything to me, and knowing we're getting married, we're going to be together forever... as scary as it is, it's going to be the best day of my life"

"You know me, B" Faith replied, "Not one for the settlin' but I think it'll suit you just fine" she smiled, "And hey, if it don't pan out, you can always come runnin' back to LA. Always some floor space for you to crash on, y'know?"

"I know" Buffy nodded, glancing at Faith then at the carpet, "I kinda wondered how things were with you, I thought about inviting you to the wedding but I didn't know if you'd want to come, I mean, I thought maybe you were pissed at me when I stayed here"

"Nah, not even for a second" Faith assured her, "I knew this was the life you shoulda had, and I knew I didn't fit in it, same as you never really fit in my world either" she shrugged.

"Not for the lackage of trying" Buffy smiled, "Sometimes when I think about the stuff we did, it doesn't even seem like me. Other times I wonder where that girl went, and who I am now..."

"Now, you're who you're s'posed to be, B" she smiled at her accidental illiteration, "Before... hey, we had a good time, but in the end..."

"It was just a ride, right?" Buffy quoted a phrase her cousin so often used for all the one night stands the pair of them had. Of course, 'ride' had a whole other meaning in that context, but the phrase applied. Life was one long rollercoaster trip, and that chapter would always be the crazy Faith years in the book of Buffy's existence was one hell of a ride. As tough as some of it had been, as much as she regretted parts of it now, she wouldn't trade it in. If she could live her life over again, she'd let it happen as it should, no matter how hard that was. She might never have ended up so happy with Spike, if she hadn't been forced to suffer before.

"Y'know, your guy wasn't exactly thrilled with my entrance" Faith told Buffy, wanting to break an awkward silence any way she could, "Giles either. Poor guy polished his glasses so hard, I thought he was gonna snap 'em in two" she laughed.

"Giles is great" Buffy assured her cousin, "A little old fashioned maybe but, he's been like a father to me. As for Spike... it's not you he isn't thrilled about so much as what you represent"

"Your sordid past that he'd rather forget?" Faith guessed and Buffy looked away.

"I guess, kinda" she admitted, "On some level I think a part of him is waiting for me to run away again, and I can't blame him for that, but I'd never leave him. I can't live without him" she said sincerely.

Faith always thought she hated this mushy stuff but hearing Buffy talk this way, about her new life and the man in it that she loved so much, it wasn't an urge to vomit she was fighting, it was an urge to cry. She hid it well of course, she was an expert at putting up walls and barriers, some that even her cousin couldn't see through, no matter how well they knew each other.

"Y'know I had no idea you guys were gettin' hitched for Christmas" she said, needing another subject change if she was going to get through this conversation, "I just had nothin' better to do, and swingin' by here to check on my favourite cousin seemed like an idea"

"Favourite?" Buffy made a face, "Yeah, that's flattering Faith. I'm your only cousin!"

"Yeah, and where's my invitation to the wedding of the century, huh?" Faith shot back as they both laughed until a sharp knock come on the door.

"Er, Buffy?" Spike called through, the door open just a crack now, "You still wearin' that wedding dress, luv?"

"Nope, coasts all clear" she assured him and he opened the door, smiling at her as he did so.

"Just wanted to check everythin' was alright with you two" he said, then off Buffy's expression he added, "And I'm a bleedin' paranoid and nosy bugger who wanted to know what was goin' on" he smirked.

"Don't get so hot under the collar, Spikey" Faith told him as she hopped off the bed, "Like I told you before, I just came to see B was okay. Now I know all's good in the land of the luxury-lovin', I can head home a happy woman"

"Head home?" Buffy frowned, "But I thought... well, since you're here and it's my wedding and all..."

"Hey, I was kiddin' about the invite, cous" Faith interrupted, waving her hand in a negative gesture, if only because the look on Spike's face told her she wasn't welcome, "'Sides my flight heads out tomorrow night, this was strictly a flyin' visit"

"Oh" Buffy looked almost tearful over Faith's departure so soon after she'd come back into her life.

Eighteen months they'd been apart and they'd genuinely missed each other, even if Buffy was the only one who would properly admit it, but life had moved on and Faith was right, they didn't belong in each others worlds anymore.

"Hey, Spike" the brunette said, holding out hand to him, "Good luck, bro, you're gonna need it marryin' anyone out of my family" she winked as he shook her hand, "Sides you screw up you know I'll come lookin' for you"

"Wouldn't expect your services to be required on that score, luv" Spike told her as he put his other arm firmly around Buffy's shoulders, "Can't hurt her, don't know how. Just love her, like you wouldn't believe"
Faith nodded that she did believe him as she looked at Buffy and smiled.

"You make sure you get that happy ever after, B" she told her, "Cos you deserve it. I'll see ya" she said as she backed up out of the door and stalked down the hall the way only Faith could as Buffy went into her fiancé's arms and hugged him tight.

Spike hugged her back, not entirely surprised as he felt his shirt become damp from her tears. His hand rubbed her back as he kissed the top of her head and sighed. It really wasn't Faith's fault that Buffy's life had been torn apart when she was young. Though the brunette had taken his girl down the path of near-ruin with her, Faith herself had only become this person because of the abominable way her parents had treated her. She was probably a decent girl underneath it all, though one would have to dig a lot deeper with her than he had with Buffy, Spike suspected.

Still, it was clear the blonde in his arms was more than a little upset to have her cousin, and former-best friend, walk back into and then out of her life so fast.

It was their wedding in a matter of days, and though the two people who Spike knew would be top of Buffy's wish guest-list were her parents, the first on a more realistic list would be Faith Wilkins. Too bad she was headed home so soon.

To Be Continued...