Part 6

"What about an outdoor wedding?"  Giles asked with an exasperated sigh as Willow dismissed yet another location as 'unsuitable'.

"What about vampires?"  Willow looked up from the brochure she was flipping through.

"During the day?"  Giles questioned with a smile.

"Angel."  Willow responded with a cheerful smile of her own.

"Right.  No outdoor wedding then."  Giles took another of the brochures from the stack on the table.  "Shouldn't we set a date first?"  He asked.

"We need to find somewhere first, and find out what dates it's available on." Willow smiled indulgently, as if explaining to a child.

"Ah, of course.  Why didn't I think of that?"  Giles kissed her smiling lips.

"You had other things on your mind?"  Willow suggested as they broke the kiss.

"I always have other things on my mind."  Giles confirmed.  "Since I met you, anyway."

Willow smiled dreamily and leaned over to kiss him.  "So, location, location, location."  She sighed.

"Aren't your parents going to expect a Jewish wedding?"  Giles replaced his brochure with the next in the stack.

"My parents have no say in this."  Willow's face transformed itself into the infamous 'resolve face'.  "I'm a Jewish, crucifix carrying, witch, and you're...what are you?"  Willow asked as she realised that she didn't know anything about Giles and religion.

"I was brought up in the Church of England."  Giles's face settled into a content expression as he remembered his early childhood.  "I stopped going to church when I was a teenager."  He confided to her.  "Too cold and draughty in winter."

"And you liked staying in bed on a Sunday morning?"  Willow asked suspiciously.

"Very true."  Giles gave her a sheepish grin.

"So, no religious ceremony, then."  Willow continued scanning the brochures.

"How about..."  Giles was interrupted by someone knocking at the door.  "I wonder who that could be?"

"Not Buffy or Xander."  Willow predicted confidently.  "They don't knock."

"No...ah, Mrs Rosenberg."  Giles froze with the door half open.

"Mom?"  Willow came up beside Giles.  "What are you doing here?"

"I rang the dorm, and your friend Bunny gave me this address."  Mrs Rosenberg glanced around at her surroundings.

"Ah, yes, where are my manners.  Do come in."  Giles stepped back from the door and allowed Sheila to pass in front of him.  "Tea?"  He asked, swallowing nervously as he felt himself and his possessions being scrutinised.

"That would be nice."  Sheila sat down on the couch and glanced over at the brochures.  Willow snatched them up and placed them at the far edge of the table in a neat pile.

"So, Willow."  Sheila began as Giles retreated into the kitchen.  "Your father and I had a little discussion..."

It sounded like world war three."  Willow protested.

"Don't exaggerate, dear."  Sheila responded.  "What was I saying?"

"You and Dad had a 'discussion'."  Willow prompted.

"Oh, yes."  Sheila smiled.  "I told him a few things about young women today."  She patted Willow's arm.  "He's having a little lie down now."

"Poor Dad."  Willow murmured.

"And I spoke to a counsellor today.  You have an appointment tomorrow, to talk about your problems."

"I don't have a problem."  Willow ground out.  "I love Rupert, and I'm marrying him."

"Tea's up."  Giles came in from the kitchen.  He felt the tension in the air and fought the urge to escape back into the kitchen.

"Thank you."  Sheila reached for the cup Giles held out.  She took a sip before looking at her watch.  "I really must be going."

"So soon?"  Giles stood quickly and took her cup.

"I must check on your father."  Sheila made her way to the door and pressed a card into Willow's hand.  "You should go to that appointment, before you make a mistake."

"Mom!"  Willow hissed.

"Call us."  Sheila responded as she made her way out of the front door.

"Parents."  Willow sighed as she collapsed against the door.

"Take heart."  Giles crossed the floor and hugged her.  "I've found the perfect place for the wedding."

"Really?"  Willow smiled up at him.

"The Museum."  He told her.

"Museum?"  Willow considered for a moment.  "As long as nobody invites an Inca mummy, it would be perfect."

"They have a licence, so it shouldn't be a problem."  Giles led Willow over to the stairs.

"Where are we going?"  Willow questioned.

"Well, now we've found a venue, I thought we could go to bed."  He motioned up the stairs hopefully.

"We have to decide on a honeymoon, now."  Willow led him back towards the couch.

"Honeymoon, right."  Giles sat down next to her.  "I don't suppose we could just lock ourselves in here for a fortnight, could we?"  He asked.

"A honeymoon on a hellmouth?  I don't think so."  Willow grabbed her bag.  "Here, pick one."  She waved a selection of holiday brochures under his nose.

"Weddings."  He muttered as he dutifully set about his task.

 

Part 7

"So, spill Will,"  Xander threw himself down onto the couch.  "What's all the excitement?"

"We have to wait for Buffy...oh, hi Buffy!"  Willow exclaimed as said Slayer waltzed through the door with Riley in tow.

"Right, the slayer is in the house.  Come on Will!"  Xander bounced in his seat.

"What's all the excitement about?"  Buffy pushed Riley onto the couch and perched on his lap.

"Willow and Giles have something to say.  It's not very exciting at all,"  Anya offered as she continued flipping through a magazine.

"It's exciting to us!"  Willow protested.

"Are there demons to kill?"  Spike let himself in and wandered into the kitchen.

"Why'd you invite him?"  Buffy complained.

"We didn't,"  Giles cast an anxious glance at his kitchen, wondering what havoc Spike was in the midst of causing tonight.

"Can we get on with this?"  Anya cast a bored glance around the room and its occupants.  "Xander and I had plans."

"Okay,"  Willow smiled at Giles and he nodded his head.  "Well, Giles and I have set a date for the wedding."

"Already?"  Buffy asked.  "I mean, I thought you'd have...you know...a long engagement or something."

"We are getting married in six weeks, Buffy,"  Giles interjected.  "That's already much too long a wait in my view."

"Hang on a minute,"  Spike came out of the kitchen nursing one of Giles's best mugs.  "The witch and the watcher are getting married?"

"Were have you been, Spike?"  Xander smiled indulgently.  "They've been together for ages."

"It's been a few days, and you know it,"  Willow smacked Xander's arm.  "Rupert asked me to marry him after I got kidnapped."  Willow clarified for Spike's benefit.

"You got kidnapped?"  Spike shook his head.  "No-one tells me anything around here."

"There's a reason for that,"  Buffy smiled sweetly.  "Nobody likes you."

"I'm wounded,"  Spike scowled at her and leaned against the wall.  "You sure you want to marry him, pet?"  He asked Willow casually as he eyed Giles up and down.

"Excuse me, I am still in the room!"  Giles protested.

Willow smiled.  "I'm sure,"  she slipped her hand into Giles'.

"Pity,"  Spike sighed.  "You and me could have had some fun."

"Me and you?"  Willow squeaked.

"Well, you're smart, not bad looking, and you don't whine like the rest of them."  Spike gestured to the other scoobies lounging around the room.

"Really?"  Willow giggled.  "That's so..."  She trailed off as she heard Giles cough and felt his fingers tighten around hers.  "I mean, no thanks Spike.  I love Rupert."

"Well, if you get bored..."  Spike left the statement hanging.

"She won't get bored,"  Giles ground the words out.

"Of course not,"  Willow added, leading Giles away from Spike.

"So, where is this wedding?"  Buffy asked, smirking as she saw Giles scowling at Spike.

"What?"  Giles tore his attention away from Spike.  "Ah yes, the wedding.  It's at the..."

"Museum!"  Willow interrupted excitedly.

"Museum?"  A panicked expression appeared on Xander's face.

"Xander has...issues with the museum,"  Buffy reminded Willow.

"He'll have to deal at some point,"  Willow pointed out before turning to Xander.  "You can't spend all your life scared of museums."

"Hey!"  Xander protested.  "I'm not scared of museums,"  He lowered his head.  "Just some of the exhibits."

"We promise not to invite any exotic women,"  Willow smiled at him  "It won't be anything like last time."

"Exotic women?"  Anya's head shot up from her magazine.  "What exotic women?"

"I'll...uh...I'll explain later,"  Xander shot Willow a dirty look.

"You can explain now,"  Anya pulled him to his feet.  "We'll see you tomorrow,"  She headed outside, Xander trailing after her like a condemned man.

"Honey...honestly, it's not what you think..."  Xander's last words were heard by all in the room.  Willow, Giles and Buffy exchanged amused glances before laughing outloud.

"What's up with them?"  Riley asked Spike.

"Hellmouth,"  Spike surmised.  "They've finally gone round the bend,"  He set his mug down on the counter.  "I'm off."

 

Part 8

Willow flopped down on the bench, fighting the urge to kick off her shoes.  She knew that she'd never get them back on again if she did.

"We can't stop now, Will,"  Buffy came up behind Willow and pulled on her
arm.

"I'm tired,"  Willow complained.

"It's your wedding dress we're looking for,"  Buffy reminded Willow as she pulled Willow to her feet.

"I wanted to look in Sunnydale,"  Willow grumbled as she reluctantly moved away with Buffy.

"There's no choice in Sunnydale,"  Buffy fairly bounded along the street.

"There's too much choice in LA,"  Willow retorted.

"Come on.  We'll find it in the next shop,"  Buffy promised.

"You said that three shops ago,"  Willow reminded her.

"Here we are,"  Buffy announced cheerfully as she stopped in front of a shop window full of dresses.

"Wedding Belles?"  Willow snorted.  "That's original."

"Stop complaining,"  Buffy opened the door and pushed Willow inside.

"Can I help you?"  A saleswoman approached them immediately.

"My friend's looking for a wedding dress,"  Buffy informed the woman.

"If you come with me, I'll show you some of our selection,"  the saleswoman moved towards the back of the shop with Buffy in hot pursuit.  Willow followed somewhat more slowly, her abused feet protesting.

"What about this?"  Buffy pointed to a huge meringue type dress with puffy sleeves.

"Right,"  Willow eyed her friend sceptically.  "It'll go just fine with your pistachio bridesmaid dress."

"Pistachio?"  Buffy paled, before noticing the smile on Willow's face.  "That was evil, Will."

"I know, I'm sorry.  You'll look so much better in salmon pink."  Willow grinned and turned to face the saleswoman as she held up a dress for her approval.

Buffy nearly fainted.

Part 9

Willow waved as Buffy disappeared into the Bronze.  After a day spent scouring LA for that most elusive of items, the perfect wedding dress, the Slayer still had enough energy left to go dancing with Riley.  Willow, on the other hand, wondered where exactly she would find the energy to get from the car to the apartment.  Sighing, she turned the car around and drove the short distance home.


 

Giles was pacing the apartment.  He had also suffered that day, attempting to coerce Xander into a formal suit.  Listening to his complaints about being strangled had almost made Giles long for a Hellmouth crisis of some description.  Whilst these rarely shut Xander up for more than a minute, they provided Giles with a distraction from his incessant noise.

Willow dropped her key outside the door, and swore softly as she bent to pick it up.  Giles heard the noise outside the door and opened it swiftly.  Willow stood up and found herself nose to well-muscled chest with the object of her affections.

"Ah...hello,"  Giles slipped his arms around her waist.

"Hello,"  Willow collapsed against his chest, letting him support her and take the weight off her abused feet.

"You look tired,"  Giles commented leading her to the couch.  "And beautiful,"  he added quickly, seeing the unamused look on her face.

"You are sweet,"  Willow smiled tiredly.  "A terrible liar, but sweet."

'"I'm not lying,"  Giles insisted.  "You do look beautiful,"  he sat down next to her and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm exhausted,"  Willow confirmed.

"Did you find a dress?"  Giles asked.

"Eventually, after visiting nearly every shop in LA,"  Willow kicked off her shoes.

"It can't have been as bad as my day with Xander,"  Giles lifted Willow's legs up onto the couch, her feet resting in his lap.  He began to massage them.

"Oh, that's nice...just there,"  Willow sighed contentedly and closed her eyes as his fingers eased her aching flesh.

"Glad to be of service,"  Giles smiled down on her and dropped a kiss on her lips.

"Will it always be like this?"  Willow asked quietly.  "You and me, when we're married,"  she added, seeing his puzzled look.

"I hope so,"  Giles gently pulled her up and hugged her to him.  "We'll have to keep working at it,"  he added.

"At our relationship?"  Willow asked him with a mischevious smile.

"Aspects of it, certainly,"  Giles responded.

"That could be fun,"  Willow eyed the stairs and smiled.

"It could rather, couldn't it?"  Giles stood and swept her up into his arms.  They moved up into the bedroom silently, neither one needing to speak.

Part 10

The weeks seemed to fly by.  Willow was caught up in a whirl of activity from the moment she got up in the morning to the time she crawled into bed, exhausted, at night.  Giles, however, found himself with time on his hands as Willow pronounced him incompetent, and took it upon herself to do everything to ensure that it was done properly.  Willow did allow Giles two areas of responsibility - the invitations and the honeymoon.

Giles had just closed the door behind Willow as she exited the apartment in a rush, nearly half an hour late for picking up Buffy and Anya for the drive to LA and a final dress fitting.  Cordelia was due to meet them there.  The door flew open again to reveal an hyper-active Xander.

"The women are gone, the men get to have fun,"  Xander announced as he threw himself onto the couch.

"Actually, Xander, the men get to do a check on the guest list,"  Giles explained as he removed Xander's feet from his coffee table, and replaced them with a stack of RSVPs.

"Why, thank you,"  Xander eyed the pile with something approaching fear.

"They don't bite, Xander,"  Giles informed him, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I suppose we'll have to save the fun for your bachelor party,"  Xander waited for his words to reach Giles's brain.

"Bachelor party?"  Giles visibly paled.  "I'm not having a bachelor party."

"Yes you are.  I'm arranging it,"  Xander announced proudly.  "There'll be fur flying!"  He promised.

"Xander, I really must insist..."

"Christopher Giles?  Just who is that?"  Xander interrupted, his eyes catching the name as he shuffled through the RSVPs.

"My brother,"  Giles told him, moving into the kitchen.

"You have a brother?  Why don't I know this?  Does Willow know this?"  Xander followed him.

"No, Willow doesn't know, although I suspect that she will shortly,"  Giles filled the kettle.

"What are you saying?  That I can't keep quiet?"  Xander asked, somewhat indignantly.

"Yes,"  Giles answered simply.

"That's what I thought,"  Xander told him, apparently mollified.


 

Willow twirled in her gown, Buffy, Cordelia and Anya watching in glee as Willow's face shone with happiness.

"You look gorgeous, Willow,"  Cordelia told her honestly.

"So do you,"  Willow responded.  "All of you."

"I'm *so* glad you didn't go with the salmon pink,"  Buffy confessed as she looked down at her burgundy dress.

"Salmon pink?  Willow you didn't seriously consider that?"  Cordelia asked, a disapproving look on her face.

"No I didn't *seriously* consider it,"  Willow pulled a face at Buffy.  "I used it as a threat to hyper Slayer over there, who was trying to make me look like a cream cake."

"That was a good one, Willow."  Anya felt tears welling in her eyes.  "Stupid human emotions..."  She muttered to herself.

"It'll be you, next,"  Willow teased gently.

"Xander?  Married?  He'd sooner live without snack food,"  Anya wiped the the tears away and smiled at Willow.

"What about you, Buffy?  You and Riley planning to tie the knot?"  Cordelia broke the silence.

"No way.  I want to live before I get old and married,"  The words came out before her brain had a chance to censor them.  "Oh, Willow, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay, Buffy, really,"  Willow grinned.  "I'll be happy to be old and married.  All that matters is that I'm with Rupert."

"Oh shut up, now you're making me cry!"  Buffy dashed a tear from her eye and went to hug Willow.

"The dress!"  Cordelia squealed.

"Oh, right,"  Buffy pulled back at the last minute.

"Are we going out next week?"  Anya asked as the assistant finished pinning Willow's dress.

"No,"  Willow answered.

"Yes," both Buffy and Cordelia announced at the same time.

"We can stay in.  Have a girls' night?"  Willow almost pleaded.

"Sure, Will, whatever you say,"  Buffy answered absently as she twirled in her dress as they moved into the changing rooms.

"We are going out, aren't we?"  Anya whispered whilst Willow was occupied taking her dress off.

"Of course,"  Buffy answered.  "You can come, can't you?"  She asked Cordelia.

"When have I said no to clubbing?"  Cordelia asked.

"Good point,"  Buffy conceded.

"Why don't we go clubbing here?  In LA?"  Anya asked.

"What do you think?"  Buffy asked Cordelia.

"Sure.  I mean, what is there in Sunnydale?  The Bronze?"  Cordelia laughed.  "You can crash at my place.  Dennis won't mind."

"Dennis?"  Anya raised an eyebrow.

"My ghost,"  Cordelia explained.

"Right,"  Buffy nodded sceptically.  "So, clubbing in LA.  Just don't tell Willow."

"Don't tell Willow what?"  Willow stood behind Buffy in her normal clothing.

"That...er...that Cordelia had a crush on Giles!"  Buffy blurted out, earning herself a glare form Cordelia.

"Didn't we all?"  Willow sighed dreamily.

Buffy, Cordelia and Anya shared a look.  Willow had it bad.  Very bad.

 

 

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