Life since Sunnydale's end hasn't been without its trials but now Buffy is about to face something she's never experienced before when Dawn drops a bombshell.
Rush
Chapter One
Buffy paced the reception area of Slayer Central. She had a mixture of nerves and excitement bubbling up inside her; Dawn had called a few hours ago. She had been back to California to see her friend Janice and was returning to England. She had only been gone a few weeks, but Buffy had missed her—especially when it came to translating demon texts, which Dawn had proved herself somewhat of a master at.
"Is she here yet?" asked Xander with a mouthful of donuts.
"Not yet" said Buffy, still pacing.
"So what did she say exactly?" he asked.
"Nothing much, just that she had a surprise for us when she got back," Buffy shrugged.
"I, for one, hope she brought back some Peeps," said Xander.
"She got the memo Fritos and Peeps were number one on the list" said Buffy "she should be here soon"
Dawn opened the door with a suitcase trailing behind her. "I'm home," she smiled.
"Dawnie!" Buffy grabbed hold of her sister and hugged her. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too!" said Dawn, breaking the hug to then hug Xander
"Did you get the peeps?" Xander asked, excitedly.
"Yes! They're in my suitcase but before we get into all that I need to call a meeting" Dawn said enthusiastically
"Okay, we'll round up the gang," said Buffy.
XXXXX
The usual suspects surrounded the meeting room table.
"Any idea how long this is going to take? There's a couple of vamps in the next town over with my name on them." Faith sighed.
"I believe Dawn will be along in a moment" said Giles.
"Any idea what this is all about Giles?"
asked Willow
"She didn't say" he replied taking off his glasses to clean them
"It's gotta be important right?" asked Xander eating one of the Peeps Dawn had brought back for him
"We're not sure of much" said Giles
"She must have some demony news" said Willow
Dawn and Buffy entered the room and the chatter quietened down. "So you guys are probably wondering what I've brought you here to tell you huh?" said Dawn
"We're intrigued" said Buffy
"Well… y'know it's a funny story" Dawn shifted her feet awkwardly
"What did you do?" asked Buffy sternly
"It's not bad I promise!" Dawn stuttered "It's good… well I think it's a good- good thing and oh jeez I'm nervous"
"Spit it out brat" said Faith
"I'm engaged" said Dawn excitedly showing them a huge rock that sat on the third finger of her left hand
"Engaged? What?" asked Buffy
"Woah, that thing is huge!" said Faith grabbing Dawn's hand and inspecting the ring.
"What? How? What?" Xander stammered in disbelief
"Excellent questions" muttered Giles
"To who?" Willow frowned
"His name is Jackson and he's such a great guy" Dawn beamed
"Where did you even meet him?" asked Willow
"You we're only gone for four weeks Dawn" said Buffy
"I know it's sudden but he's totally amazing and we love each other. I've never felt this way before" said Dawn
"You said that about RJ Brooks remember?" said Buffy
"That was different!" Dawn yelled
"Okay Dawnie, it's okay… you're in love that's great but what's with the rushy rush? You're young and there's so much time for you to become somebody's wife" said Xander
"Because we're in love and I feel it's right" said Dawn
"When's the wedding?" asked Giles
"A long long longgg engagement I hope" said Buffy
"In two weeks" Dawn said quietly
"Two weeks?" Buffy's voice exploded "I'm sorry Dawn this is crazy!"
"No it's not, just please meet him and you'll all see that this is real" said Dawn
"Dawnie" Willow approached her gently "Do you think?… I mean is there any possibility that you could be under the influence of a love spell?"
"Oh my god!" Dawn exclaimed
"Right! Love spell!" Xander agreed with Willow
"There's no spell! I love him and he loves me! I thought you guys would be happy for me" Dawn cried
"Oh we are sweetie" said Willow softly "It's just a shock"
"This isn't happening" Buffy blurted out
"What?" asked Dawn, daring her sister to repeat herself.
"You can't marry a man you just met!" said Buffy
"Well let's look at your dating track record… vampire, civilian, vampire. Cuz' that's totally normal!" Dawn argued
"But I never married any of them!" Buffy argued back
"You were engaged to Spike once!" said Dawn
"It was a spell!" Buffy yelled "and this isn't about me Dawn, you can't just jump into these kind of things. You barely know him just take the time to get to know each other, you may not like each other in a few months time"
"We know each other, we talk all the time. We are so connected. Look, I know it's fast I'm not an idiot but I love him and I'm going to marry him" Dawn stomped out of the room
"She still does that stompy teen routine?" Faith rolled her eyes, making a quick exit.
"Guys what do we do?" asked Buffy in full panic mode
"She seems quite adamant she's marrying this man" said Giles
"We can't let her do this" said Buffy pacing up and down "This has to be a love spell right?"
"Seems likely" said Willow "I'll see if I can cast a tracing spell hopefully something will come up"
"And if it isn't a spell?" Xander put the thought out there
"Then we have to support her decision" said Giles
"How? How can we support this? She just met this guy four weeks ago! He could be a serial killer for all we know" said Buffy "or worse!"
"We'll deal with this Buffy" Xander comforted her
"I gotta call Spike" said Buffy
"Why?" asked Willow "I mean you guys didn't exactly part on good terms last time"
That was true. They didn't. Six months after the fall of Los Angeles he came knocking at her door. She was relieved to see him alive or as alive as Spike gets, then came the anger she was pissed at him for not letting her know he had been helping Angel.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked her voice tinged with hurt
"I wanted to" he admitted
"But not enough?" Her voice was shaky, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.
"Peaches needed me" he shrugged
"I needed you!" She cried ""I meant it y'know" she told him
"Meant what?" He asked
"Down there, in the hellmouth... I meant it"
Spike inhaled deeply "I know" he managed
"You know?" She asked choking back the tears "then why? Why didn't you come with me?"
"I wanted to so badly" he cried "but you knew I couldn't. I had to be strong I had to do what needed to be done"
"You'd done enough! The hellmouth was crumbling around us. You could've taken the damn amulet off and came with me! Then I wouldn't have had to spend all this time without you!"
"You know I couldn't..."
"Four hundred and seventy!" She cried
He looked her with a raised eyebrow
"It's been four hundred and seventy days without you. I counted" she shrugged "just like you did... I thought that if I counted that somehow you'd come back"
Spike stared at her with a pained look and sighed heavily "I wish I did things differently"
"Me too" she said stomping off
That was the last time she saw him, she thought he might have ran after her but he didn't. He truly had changed, they'd spoken briefly on the phone since then about a demon but it was strictly business. Buffy knew that she had to tell Spike about Dawn's shock engagement although Buffy and Spike had their issues Buffy knew that he would be on her side about this.
"I need back up" Buffy finally answered Willow
XXXXX
Buffy took a deep breath before picking up the phone and dialling. She let out a sigh as the phone went straight to voicemail.
"It's Spike leave a message" his silky British voice came through the phone
Buffy braced herself "Spike, it's Buffy. I need to talk to you. Please call me. Bye"
XXXXX
Buffy woke the next morning and chose violence. She headed straight for the gym and pounded away at the punching bag that hung in the center of the gym. She didn't understand how her younger sister could just throw caution to the wind and get engaged to a man she barely knows. Especially given their history with love spells Buffy was determined that this wasn't real and that she would have to pick up the pieces once the spell had broken.
"Hey Buffster" Xander greeted her as he walked into the gym
"Hey" she said breathlessly as she landed another series of punches
"Uh so Dawn's looking for you" he told her
"She didn't look far, I've been here all morning" she said stopping to take a sip of water
"Her future husband is getting in later she wants you to meet him" said Xander
"Oh boy" she sighed "Are we really doing this? It seems to silly you know it's a spell right?"
"Odds are" he shrugged "Willow's working some mojo we'll know soon"
"I just don't know how all this is going to go down" Buffy sighed
"Okay…" Xander took a deep breath "So what if this is real?"
Buffy thought for a moment "Then Dawnie is getting married I guess"
"And how do you feel about that?" He asked
"I don't know how to feel Xander, she's only 21. Remember us at 21?" Buffy shuddered
"I was leaving Anya at the alter" said Xander
"Because you weren't ready" said Buffy
"True but also not really… knowing what I know now I would've married her" he said sadly
"I miss her too" Buffy told him "Especially whenever I hear anybody talk about Shrimp"
Xander cracked a smile "The world without Shrimp" he nodded
"I guess I have to be a little more supportive don't I?" Buffy sighed
"A little, but hey it's a huge life changing thing" said Xander
"Here's hoping it's a spell" Buffy said with her fingers crossed
XXXXX
Dawn knocked on Buffy's door gently before opening it "Hey, you got a minute?"
"Sure" said Buffy folding laundry
"I know this isn't exactly ideal but I'd like you to meet Jackson before you completely rule this out" said Dawn helping her sister fold towels
"I'm not ruling anything out, I'm in shock Dawn. It's not everyday your sister comes home after four weeks engaged to a man she just met" said Buffy
"I know" said Dawn
"I mean, how old is he? Where's he from? What are his parents like?" Buffy asked
"He's 24, he's from Ferndale. His parents are Susan and John they're the sweetest people, he had a sister Emily but she died two years ago. I know so much about him Buffy, he is the sweetest guy. He makes me laugh so hard and when I'm with him I feel safe and loved. I promise you Buffy this is it" said Dawn
Buffy looked at her sister for a moment. She realised how grown up Dawn now looked, it's like for a past few years she only saw her as her annoying teenage sister with a klepto problem. It was like only now she was seeing her as she was, a beautiful, smart young woman.
"He sounds wonderful" Buffy said sincerely
"He is" Dawn promised her
"Does he know about us? Like what we do here?" asked Buffy
"Yes, apparently Ferndale although small had a nasty vampire problem" said Dawn
"Had? What happened?" asked Buffy
"I called in a favour with Spike" said Dawn
"Oh… he's in California?" asked Buffy
"He's mostly in Seattle with his girlfriend" said Dawn
Buffy tensed a little "A girlfriend? Really… good for him" the words pained her to say.
"He didn't tell you that did he? He told me that he mentioned it to you" said Dawn
"Must've slipped his mind" Buffy shrugged "So when does Jackson get in?"
"His flight lands in oh" said Dawn looking at her watch "an hour, I better pick him up from the airport"
Dawn scurried out of the room babbling about making herself look pretty for her fiancé.