I rolled on my elbow and propped myself up. I drank the blood, and it made me feel so much better. I sat up and looked around. The room was dim. Lia stood in front of me wearing a low cut evening dress. Her hair fell over her shoulders, curled into long tendrils. "Why are you all dressed up?" "Anya's wedding is in an hour," she replied. I stood up. "I have to be there. And I don't have my suit. It's at Tara's." "She brought it here," she said. "I called her this afternoon." "Did she leave a message? Did she say anything about me?" Lia shook her head. "She just dropped off the suit and left." She looked at me. "I would really like to know what's going on, but we don't have time." Clem walked into the living room. "We should get going honey." He turned to her and she fastened his cuff links. "I'll meet you guys at the reception," I said. **** I pushed open the double doors to the reception hall. Xander and Anya were cutting the cake. A crowd surrounded them, laughing and taking pictures. I looked around the room. It was filled to capacity with dozens of humans and demons. A DJ was set up at one corner of a dance floor. Dawn and Giles were dancing together, and I spotted Buffy dancing with an average looking human guy. I looked for Tara, and saw her standing in the corner talking to Willow. She turned and looked at me. A wreath of pink rosebuds rested on her head, and her hair was long and straight. She wore a pink gown with a ruffled neckline. We stared at each other for a moment, and I felt my heart contract painfully. I made my way towards her. The music stopped and a slow song began. Dawn came up to me, smiling and excited. "Do you want to dance?" she asked. "Sure thing, niblet," I replied. I led her in a slow movement around the dance floor. "What happened to your face?" she asked. I reached up and felt the fingernail marks on my cheek. "Got in a fight," I responded. "I have good gossip," she said. I smiled down at her. She wore the same outfit as Tara, her hair up in a bun. "What's the latest, then?" "Buffy has a new boyfriend." She pointed across the dance floor. "His name's Richard. He works with Xander." I looked over. Buffy was looking up at him, smiling and laughing. "He looks decent enough. And it's nice to see Buffy happy for a change." "He's retarded," she announced. "He brings her candy and writes her poetry." I laughed. "There are worse ways to court a woman." She chattered on about the stupidity of Richard. I scanned the dance floor, and found Tara dancing with Xander. Her face was animated, and she made the little gestures she uses when she's telling a joke. He smiled and laughed at her. My chest ached. I missed her so much. I hated being apart from her, being estranged. I needed her. I needed her warmth, her smile. The song ended and I made my way to Tara. Willow stepped out in front of me, and I stopped. "Hi Will," I said warmly. "I need to talk to you," she said seriously. "Can it wait?" "No." She grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room. We stood in the hallway. The sounds of the music and laughter drifted out from the party. "I know what you did to Tara," she said. "I didn't do anything to Tara," I said, confused. She jabbed a wooden stake in my chest. "Don't you lie to me," she said in a deadly voice. "I swear, Willow, I don't know what you mean." "I sensed magic all around her. I saw underneath her glamour. I saw the split lip, the bruises on her throat, the black eye." She sneered at me. "You come waltzing in here with her scratch marks on your cheek and your bandaged knuckles. Did you think I wouldn't be smart enough to figure it out?" "Will-" "Don't say another word." The wood inched closer to my heart. "I warned you what would happen," she said coldly. "It wasn't him," said Tara. She stepped around me and shoved me aside. "I swear, it wasn't." "Why are you protecting him?" asked Willow. "Did he threaten you?" Tara took Willow's hand and pulled out the stake, tossing it aside. "Spike didn't hurt me, Donny did."