Vows
*****
Fidgeting in his seat, Spike emitted a noiseless sigh and watched the three people standing at the altar in front of him. He was at that very moment witnessing the marriage of his former mortal enemy, Buffy Summers, to a mere mortal named Riley Finn.
The thought nauseated him.
The Slayer, it seemed, was really going through with it. He would have never believed that she’d do it, if he weren’t actually seeing it with his own two eyes. He was watching the Slayer marry a man she didn’t love, and who didn’t love her.
She was marrying the wrong man.
"If any man here can show just cause as to why this two people cannot wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," the priest spoke, reciting the ritual from memory.
Spike could see the right man standing at the back of the church, a pained look on his face. He waited for a second before he realized that his sire was just going to stand there and allow this absurdity to occur. Before he could think his plan through, Spike was on his feet. "I bloody well object!" he shouted clearly.
A gasp rose from the church full of people as Buffy and Riley spun around to face him. The priest spoke again. "My child, you object to this wedding? On what grounds?"
Spike looked back at Angel, who stood there, mouth open, gaping at his childe’s words. "Uh, well..." He really didn’t want to blurt this out in front of the whole damn church. Riley may have been a wanker, but he didn’t deserve public humiliation.
"Spike!" Joyce hissed, tugging on his arm. "Spike, what are you doing?"
He shook Joyce off and glared at Buffy. "The bride cannot marry this wanker, because she’s in love with another."
The priest looked at Buffy, who had paled considerably. "Is this true, Buffy?"
She was frozen, unable to speak to the priest or respond to Riley’s glare.
Spike nodded. "Of course it’s true! She’s in love with my tosser of a sire. The guy lurking back there in the shadows." He jerked his hand around, pointing at Angel.
Angel wanted to disappear. He was humiliated for all the parties involved, but at the same time...Buffy couldn’t marry Riley. He couldn’t let it happen. Spike had done the right thing by speaking up. Striding from his hiding spot, he stalked up to the altar, eyes fixed on the priest. "I’m sorry, Father, for interrupting these proceedings, but Sp...uh, William is right. Buffy cannot marry this man, because she is still in love with me."
He heard Buffy gasp softly, and turned his head. She was so beautiful in her wedding dress, and the enormity of what he had almost watched happen hit him. She stared at him, terrified love in her eyes. "She is still in love with me, and God help us both, I am still in love with her."
>From the first pew, he could hear Joyce’s wails and Spike’s murmured words of comfort.
Riley shook himself out his daze. "Wait just one minute, what the hell do
you mean, coming in here on my WEDDING DAY—"
Angel looked at him. "I’m sorry...I really am, but you must have realized she was never really yours in the first place." He was amazed at the civility of his words, when all he wanted to do was rip Riley’s throat out for daring to touch HIS woman.
"Why don’t we ask Buffy?" Riley said with a sneer.
Both men turned to face her.
She closed her eyes, and she could hear Whistler’s voice in her head. "Time to call it, doll." Her brain and her heart were screaming two totally different names at her, and she didn’t know which organ she should listen to. Then she opened her eyes and saw Angel, saw how every other man in the room paled in comparison to him, and called it.
"Riley," she began as her fiance swelled up with pride. "Riley...God, I’m so sorry...but I can’t do this."
Riley’s eyes widened. "You can’t do this!?! Are you out of your mind?"
Buffy smiled slightly. "Nope...or at least, not anymore."
"I won’t let you do this."
Angel snarled at him. "The choice isn’t yours."
Riley stepped forward to grab Buffy, and without thought, Angel decked him. Riley flew off the altar, his flight curtailed by the confessionals. He landed with a loud crash.
Everyone in the church gasped, but Angel ignored them. He turned to face his beloved once more. He held out his hand. "Come with me?"
"You left me," she said softly, her smile dimming, the old hurt still close to the surface.
"I know," he said solemnly. "I was an ass."
"A huge ass." A ghost of a grin crossed her face.
"Forgive me?"
"Always."
Angel held out his hand and asked his question once more. "Come with me?"
"Anywhere," she swore, and took his hand. She smiled apologetically at the priest. "I’m sorry for the confessionals, Father. Just let me know how much the repair costs."
With that, Angel led her down from the altar to the first pew, where he stopped. Joyce was pale, glaring at Angel. Giles had his hand in his jacket pocket, no doubt fingering a handy stake and imagining it planted in a certain vampire’s chest. Faith was grinning unrepetantly, seated next to Spike, who was looking quite pleased with himself. Xander was fuming, Willow looked shellshocked, and Oz, as usual, was nonplussed.
"I hope you’re happy," Joyce hissed, her voice low.
Angel grinned suddenly. "Actually, right now I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time."
That was not the answer she had been expecting, and it threw her off long enough for Spike to push past her. Both vampires regarded each other quietly for a moment, then Spike smiled at his sire. "Couldn’t let you make the worst mistake of your unlife, could I?"
"I knew there was a reason I let you live." The fondness he held for his childe was obvious in his voice.
Buffy winked at Spike, even as she winced internally at the glares radiating from most of her loved ones. "I’ll see you guys later," she said. "Angel and I have to go and talk."
"Talking with Angel would have been much more convenient BEFORE you decided to toss Riley into the confessionals," Giles pointed out.
"When have either of us ever been convenient?"
Giles had no answer for her.
Waving at them, she allowed Angel to pull her down the aisle, noticing Cordelia seated next to Doyle and Whistler in the back. Cordelia beamed at them as they passed by, taking time out from beating Doyle to wave happily.
As Angel grasped the door handle, he looked down at Buffy. "You sure about this now? There’s no turning back."
She laughed loudly then, the sound carrying clearly throughout the church. "There was never any turning back. I just had to pretend to want to marry Riley for you to realize it."
Angel’s jaw dropped, and she took advantage of his confusion to drag him outside, away from prying eyes.
"You...you...you," he sputtered.
A smug look crossed her face. "What," she asked innocently, "I can’t plot?
I can’t scheme?"
Angel was still dumbstruck. He was even adorable when he was dumbstruck, she noted. She flung herself into his arms, and he surfaced out of his confusion to cradle her to his chest.
"I love you, even though you schemed," he informed her.
"I love you, so I had to scheme," she told him.
And then their mouths met, and blame was forgotten in the fire of their need for each other.
They were so perfect together that people passing by the church didn’t stop to wonder why the groom was wearing a black leather coat instead of a tuxedo. They merely smiled as they witnessed true love overcome all odds once more.
The End