London Calling

You people are insatiable! Here's another chapter for you, darlings.


Chapter 3


Buffy awoke to sharp knocks on her door.
"Buffy, come on! We have to go check out floral arrangements today. Fabulous centerpieces are the cornerstone of any marriage." Anya punctuated her statement by banging on the door some more.
Buffy groaned and pulled her comforter over her head. She felt completely drained. After storming upstairs last night following her confrontation with Spike, she hadn't been able to sleep. She'd lain awake for hours thinking about him and his manic ego. His stupid hair. That Goddamn annoying smirk he always got on his face. The way he tilted his head to the side when he looked at her...
Buffy moaned and snuggled herself deeper into the bed. It wasn't fair that he affected her this way. God, he made her feel like she was fifteen all over again!
Bang Bang Bang!
"Buffy, get up right now! I swear, if you don't get your butt out here in fifteen minutes, I'm going to tell everyone about the time you discovered the multiple uses for the removable pulsating shower head..." Anya warned.
Buffy was up and out of bed in two seconds flat. She wrenched open the door.
Anya beamed at her. "There you are! Now, get dressed. I want to get to all the Bridal Stores before those other harpies do. It's a big sale day!" She turned and hurried down the hall.
Buffy closed her eyes and leaned her head against the door frame. Thank God it was only a few more weeks until the wedding. She didn't know how much longer she could take the constant bridal shops, flowers, wedding cake samples...
She paused and smiled. The wedding cake samples weren't so bad.
"Pulsating showerhead, eh?"
Buffy's eyes instantly widened in shock.
She slammed the door on a smirking Spike.

***

Spike sat staring at his cereal bowl. He smiled to himself. Buffy even looked good with bedhead going on.
He paused mid-thought.
Before he could start anything with Buffy, he really needed to figure out what was going on between him and Drusilla. It was over, he knew it. Been over for a long time now. There was only so many times his heart could get broken by her before he finally just had to give up. The last straw was when he'd come home on their three year anniversary to find her boning the landlord in their bed. She'd had the gall to smile at him and to ask him to close the door on the way out. After that little fiasco, he'd moved out and hadn't seen her since. It was only last week that she'd called to make amends. Telling him she was sorry, that she couldn't go on without her sweet darling any longer. He'd felt a pang of something - he didn't know whether it was love or pity - and on a whim he'd mentioned the wedding to her. She'd said she'd fly in to attend.
Spike rubbed at his temples. At the time it had seemed like a bad idea. Now it seemed like a colossal mistake. If he wanted to spend any modicum of time with Buffy...
The object of his thoughts chose that moment to enter the room. She glanced his way, then went back to pretending he didn't exist.
Spike smirked. If she thought he was just going to let her ignore him, she was in for a surprise.
"Morning, love. Sleep well?"
Buffy pulled out the Pop-Tarts box from the cabinet. "Just fine, thanks."
"Off to shop with Anya today?" He questioned, snagging the box out of her hands and taking out the last remaining package.
She rolled her eyes and snatched it back. "God, I'd do anything to get out of that. Bridal shopping with Anya is like the worst kind of torture... hours upon hours of her trying on gowns and picking out flowers." Buffy giggled. "I had to talk her out of the Little Bo Peep Wedding Ensemble. She actually wanted sheep to follow her down the aisle."
Spike laughed. "Anya's a bit off, but she's nice enough."
Buffy smiled indulgently and handed him one of her Pop-Tarts. "I know. She was like a big sister to me after Mom..." She paused and cleared her throat. "Anya took me under her wing and got me out of my ugly duckling phase. Helped me to get on the cheerleading squad over at UC Sunnydale. I'm glad that she's finally getting what she wants."
Spike took a bite of the Pop-Tart and shook his head. "You were never an ugly duckling."
Buffy blushed and rolled her eyes. "Right. That's why all the guys were beating down the door to get to me."
"You were adorable with your big eyes and your books. I'm sure a million guys wanted to date you." He smiled up at her.
Buffy frowned. "No, they didn't. I was a total loser." She paused, smiled. "Not anymore, though. Now the guys really do beat down the door to get to me. I AM a hot cheerleader, after all." She purposely flipped her hair and laughed.
Now it was Spike's turn to frown. "You're to good for that reject you had over last night. You should save yourself for someone who's going to treat you right, not act like a complete asshole."
Buffy folded her arms across her chest defensively. "Angel's great. He's the quarterback of the football team, and his Dad's worth millions. Every girl at school wants to be in my shoes."
Spike stood up and assessed her. "Is that what really matters to you now? Money and popularity? The Buffy I knew never would have given that guy the time of day."
Buffy turned to leave. "Yeah, well that Buffy's long gone. You missed her departure, being out of my life and all. Maybe we should just keep it that way."
Spike grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry. Let's not fight, all right? Maybe I can get you out of shopping today with Anya."
Buffy turned to contemplate him warily. "Yeah? How?"
Spike smiled and massaged her shoulder. "Well, we can tell Anya you have to go with me to pick out my tux."
Buffy closed her eyes and tried to focus. It was hard to do while he was touching her like that. She opened her eyes and tried to concentrate.
"Anya will never fall for it." She carefully moved out of his reach.
Spike smirked. Pretty soon, she'd be all his.
"Just leave it to me."

***

"I can't believe you told Anya if I didn't go with you, you'd show up at the wedding in short pants and a hawaiian shirt! I seriously thought she was going to have a stroke." Buffy giggled and punched Spike in the arm.
They were walking down Main Street together after checking into the Formal Wear shop for Spike's tux. He'd looked so good in it that she'd wanted to scream in frustration. Now that they were getting along once again, it was like he'd gone back to seeing her just as a little sister.
Spike laughed and threw his arm companionably around Buffy's shoulders. "I know how to handle women."
Buffy snorted. "Yeah, right! Look at you in your pseudo-Billy-Idol-wannabe clothes. You're a real chick magnet."
Spike looked suitably offended. "I'll have you know that the ladies are always throwing themselves at me. I get more ass than I know what to do with!"
Buffy choked with laughter. "Stop it, stop it! You're gonna kill me!"
Spike grinned. "Oh, I'll kill you all right!" He proceeded to grab Buffy and tickle her waist.
Buffy doubled over with laughter. "No! Stop! I can't take it!"
Spike continued to tickle her stomach and started towards her underarms. "Say I'm the best looking man you've ever met. Say it!"
Buffy shrieked with laughter. "No! You're a big bleached freak!"
Spike attacked her underarms and tickled her without mercy. "Say it!"
Buffy gasped for breath. "All right, all right! You're a sex god! I cower before your manly prowess. Your overwhelming sexuality makes me swoon!" She faked a faint right there and fell into his arms.
Spike grinned. "That's what I thought!" He wrapped his arms around her. "Now, to make up for your utter lack of faith in my sexiness, you'll have to soothe my wounded ego with a kiss."
Buffy's eyes widened.
Spike's lips slowly descended towards hers.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then...
"Buffy, hey!"
Damn it.
"Hey Willow! Cordelia, Faith!" Buffy disentangled herslef from Spike's arms balefully. "This is my brother's best friend, Spike. Spike, these are my friends from the squad, Willow, Cordelia and Faith."
"Ladies, it's a pleasure to meet you." Spike smiled winningly and proceeded to kiss each of their hands.
The girls melted.
Buffy seethed.
"God, your accent is hot! Buffy, where have you been hiding this guy?" Cordelia murmured, sidling up to Spike.
"Yeah B, it's like you're always hording the hot men. First Angel, now this prime piece of beef. How do you do it?" Faith said, catching hold of Spike's other arm and weaving herself close to his side.
Buffy rolled her eyes. Were these girls actually her friends?
"Actually ladies, I'm just in from London for a few weeks. Here for my mate's wedding." Spike replied, moving back a few inches from both girls.
"Hey Buffy. How come you're not out with Anya? Doesn't she usually drag you around on the weekends to those goddawful Bridal Expo's?" Willow inquired.
Thank God for Willow. If it wasn't for her, Buffy didn't know how she'd have lasted so long with these intellectual nitwits.
"Hey Wills. Actually, I ended up getting out of it. Thank God. One more afternoon of bridally fun with Anya and I might just kill myself." Buffy feigned pointing a gun at her head and pulled the trigger.
Willow swatted at her hand playfully. "At least you don't have to wear that abomination of a bridesmaid dress! The orange is literally radioactive. Besides - redhead? Hello! I'm going to look like a huge orange fireball!"
Buffy laughed. "Sorry about that. It's just the perks of being the Maid of Honor! In a few minutes I'm going to head down to April Fools and buy that little black number we checked out the other day."
Cordelia smiled. "Well, if you're gonna have to go buy that dress, why don't I stay here and keep Spike company? I'm sure he wouldn't want to go shopping. It's so boring for guys."
Faith frowned and grabbed Spike's arm. "Actually, why don't I stay here with Spike and you can go help Buffy with her dress thing."
Cordelia narrowed her eyes and tugged Spike's other arm.
Faith grit her teeth and tugged back.
"Ladies, please! I'm not a piñata. There's plenty of me to go around." He put his arms around both girls and smiled.
Buffy growled.
Spike turned to her in surprise.
Willow looked shocked. "Buffy, did you just growl?"
Buffy blushed. "No! That was... uh... my stomach! I'm in dire need of food."
Spike immediately came forward to take her arm. "Pet, do you want to stop somewhere and get something?"
Buffy scowled at him. "No thanks, Romeo. Why don't you just stay here. I have to meet Angel for lunch anyway." She turned to go. "You wanna come with, Wills?"
Willow gave her friends a puzzled look and hurried after Buffy.
"What was that all about?" Cordelia asked.
Spike squinted after Buffy's retreating figure.
"I don't know."