The Wedding

by Brit

Summary: Buffy is getting married to *Riley.*
Disclaimer: I don't own them, blah blah blah.
Distribution: Just let me know where it's going.
Authors Note: This is based on an actual dream I had last night.
Authors Notes 2: Oz and Willow never broke up, she's still straight. Oh, and the school never blew up! And Dawn doesn't exist!
Timeline: Set in early Season 5.
Spoilers: Nothing, really. Pretty much AU.
Rating: PG for violence, and *gasp* kissing
Feedback: Pretty please?


Buffy took a deep breath and looked in the mirror one last time. The dress was gorgeous, her hair was perfect, and her makeup looked great. But something wasn't right.

"Can you believe I'm getting married in the old library? This is so weird...but it feels kind of...perfect," Buffy said, making small talk.

"Mmmhmmm."

"Willow?" she asked her maid of honour.

"Hmmm?" she replied vaguely, looking up from her magazine.

"What if this isn't right?"

"What if *what's* not right, Buffy? The library?"

"No. Getting married to Riley."

She thought Willow was going to give her words of encouragement, or saying something calming, at the very least. But to her surprise, Willow burst out laughing.

"Buffy!" she choked out. "Oh my god, you crack me up!"

Buffy frowned. "I'm serious, Will. I feel like things moved to fast for us...and..." she hesitated. "I'm not sure I love him."

"I know what this is about. You saw Angel out there, didn't you?" Willow asked. Buffy nodded. "And now you think that you'll never love Riley like you loved Angel."

"Love."

"What?"

"Not loved. Love. I still love Angel, Will. And what if I marry Riley while I'm still in love with Angel?" Buffy asked worried.

"Buffy, this is just cold feet. Everybody gets it. You'll be fine, I promise. Once you start walking down that aisle and you see Riley waiting for you...trust me," Willow smiled. She peeked out the door. "Eek, Buffy, it's time!" Will gave her a thumbs up before rushing out of the room.

"I hope you're right..." Buffy mumbled. She took a deep breath and slowly made her way to the doors that led to the makeshift aisle. Giles, the bridesmaids...everyone was waiting for her.

The music started up and one by one they walked down the aisle-Willow with Oz, Anya with Xander...finally, she and Giles linked arms and started the walk down the aisle.

It was all a blur except for two faces-Riley's and Angel's. Angel was in the fourth row, trying to look conspicuous. Riley was beaming-he was clearly smitten with her. Buffy tried not to gag, and she produced a very forced smile.

Suddenly, she heard a scream. It was followed by shouts of "Oh my god!" and "What the hell is that?!" Buffy and Giles looked at each other in worry, and rushed forward. There, in the middle of the library, the Hellmouth was opening up again.

"Oh my god, it had to open today?!" Buffy complained. But inside, she actually felt kind of relieved. The guests rushed past her, until the only people that remained were her, Giles, Anya, Xander, Willow, Oz, Angel, and Riley.

"Giles, get the weapons!" she ordered him. Giles opened his weapons chest and tossed axes, crossbows, and swords to everybody. They didn't have to wait long before a demon appeared out of the Hellmouth. When Riley saw it, he dropped his weapon and his face went pale. He backed up slowly before running out of the library. Buffy "ughed" and shook her head, then focused her attention on the demon. It was pure black, with half a dozen heads, and it seemed that no matter what, it wouldn't die.

Together, her and Angel took on of the demon heads, whilst the others spread out and worked on the other demon heads. It was nice, working with Angel again, and she could have sworn that he smiled at her more than once.

It took nearly an hour, but they took it down. They all sighed with relief, but another demon appeared out of the portal.

"Bloody hell!" Giles said.

"Damnit!" Buffy yelled above the roar of the demon.

"Willow, go into my office and grab the spellbook on top of the file cabinet! Do the first spell in it!" Giles shouted.

Will nodded and hurried into his office. The remaining group fought the demon, but soon, the Hellmouth closed and Willow rushed out of the office, breathing hard.

"Did it work? Did it work?" she asked. Buffy nodded and felt tears come to her eyes, extremely glad that it was over. She hugged Willow, holding back the tears. Everyone else followed suit and started hugging everyone around them, looking down at the wrecked floor. The entire library was ruined-windows were broken, bookshelves pushed over. But they could care less.

"Um..Angel? Can I talk to you...in private?" she asked, glancing at him. He nodded solemnly and they walked into Giles' office.

"You didn't have to come today," she said softly.

"What? And miss the wedding of the woman I love?"

Buffy gasped slightly at his words, and looked him straight in the eye. "I *am* sorry. About today. About everything. I mean-"

"I know what you mean. But you still shouldn't be the one apologizing." Angel paused. "You love him?"

Buffy sighed. "No. But it's just....they don't hate him," she smiled. Angel laughed a little. "Everyone seemed to like Riley so much, they wouldn't have understood if I had told him no."

"So what's going to happen between you guys now?" he asked.

"I-I don't know. But Angel..." she looked at him, "can I just see something?" she asked. Slowly they leaned in and kissed. At first it was a friendly, comforting, but it quickly turned heated and passionate.

"What do you think you're doing with my girl?" came a voice from the door. They pulled apart reluctantly and turned to see Riley staring at them. Buffy grabbed Angel's hand and walked toward Riley, staring at him with hate and disgust.

"I am *not* your girl, Riley. I was never your girl, and I will never *be* your girl. I'm with Angel, so I suggest you leave now, and never contact me, my family, or my friends again. That is, unless you'd like me to kick your ass," Buffy said coolly. "And you know that I can."Riley gulped slightly and nodded. She saw tears in his eyes and he ran out of the library, and out of her life forever.

"You actually slept with that guy?" Angel asked. Buffy nodded.

She turned back to Angel. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied. They kissed once more, unaware of her family and friends clapping.

~*~*~*~*~

"I do," Buffy said, smiling.

"You may now kiss the bride," the minister said. Angel didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence, before kissing Buffy passionately. They pulled apart eventually and for the second time, their family and friends clapped for them.

They hurried down the aisle, happier than ever. After closing the Hellmouth, they had banished all evil. Therefore, the threat of the 'happiness clause' in Angel's curse was no longer something they had to deal with, and neither was him being a vampire.

"I love you," Buffy whispered.

"And I love you," Angel whispered back.

The End

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