Title: Love That Binds 11/11
Author: CJ
Pairing: Xander/Graham
Rating: NC-17
Feedback: If you don't, I'll cry.
Disclaimer: All the characters in the Buffyverse belong to Joss
Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I gain no monetary value from any of this.
Dammit.



An hour to go, and Xander was nothing but a pacing bundle of nerves. //What
if Graham doesn't show? What if he changed his mind? What if I throw up on my
shoes?// He continued to pace, back and forth, to and fro. He'd counted the
tiles of the bathroom several times, trying to distract himself, but it
didn't help. He unconsciously brought his hand up to his mouth, biting at
nails that were already bitten to the quick.

It was at that point that Buffy decided enough was enough. She reached into
the bathroom and pulled Xander back to the bedroom with her. She sat him down
on the bed and trapped his hands in her own so he would stop biting at his
nails. "Xander, calm down. Iâ??m gonna get dizzy watching you pace. Everything
will be fine."

Xander looked at her and released a huge sigh. "I know. But Angel was
supposed to be here an hour ago, Willow's dress is messed up, they delivered
the wrong flowers, and I want Graham."

Buffy smiled at him. "I know you do, honey. I felt the same way when Riley
and I got married. At least you don't have to worry about demons and watchers
crashing your wedding. And Willow's dress is not messed up, it's just too
long. She and Cordelia are in the other room taking it up now. Angel will be
here as soon as he can, Dawn's doing some kind of changes on whatever spell
it is she used to let him walk in the sun, she has to make it so he can stay
out a little longer, and it's a delicate spell. We can work with the flowers
we have, and Graham will be yours to do with as you wish in no time. So calm
down before you have an anxiety attack."

Xander looked around the room in a mild panic. "I think it may be too late.
Oh God, Buffy, I didn't think of the demons. What if they attack tonight?
It'll ruin everything. Oh God, I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

"Stop that right this instant, Alexander LaVelle Harris. There will be no
demons at tonight's ceremony. I've already made sure of it." Willow's voice
floated into the room ahead of her, calming Xander slightly. He looked up as
she and Cordelia came in dressed in identical clinging ivory dresses.

"Whoa, Will, digging the dresses. Why didn't I get an ivory one?" Buffy gave
them both an appraising look, then looked down at her own dress, identical to
theirs except for the color. Her's was a deep maroon.

"Because you aren't performing the ceremony, we are. You're standing up as
Xander's best woman." Cordelia spoke up as she walked over to sit beside
Xander. "Here, Xander, take my hand. Squeeze as hard as you like, it'll give
you something to focus on instead of biting your nails and pacing."

Xander took Cordelia's hand in his, turning squinted eyes on Willow. "Careful
how you throw that middle name around, Wills. I happen to be the only one in
this room that knows yours. If you want to keep it that way, you'll not use
mine."

Willow's face turned pink with her light blush. "Yeah, that's true, but you
have to admit it took your mind off your nervousness." She frowned slightly,
noticing Buffy's look at Xander. "And no, Buffy, he will not be telling you."
Then she looked back at Xander, fidgeting, "Will you? Please don't."

Buffy pouted a little. "Hey, that's not fair. You know our full names, I say
we should know yours too." But she dropped the teasing when they heard the
quiet knock on the bedroom door.

Pulling the door open, Willow grabbed Angel from where he stood just outside
the room. "Angel, come in. You can help."

Angel chuckled softly at Willow. He'd heard most of the exchange between the
friends as he stood outside in the hall. "Sure, what am I helping with?"

"Xander's way nervous, and we're trying to take his mind off it." Willow
beamed at him as she turned to indicate Xander's squeezing of Cordelia's
hand, and Cordelia trying to restrain herself from slapping him on the head.

Angel chuckled again at the scene. "Then there's one thing I can think of
that will take everyone's mind off it." He turned to Willow, taking her hand
in his own. "Willow Francine Rosenberg, may I ask for the pleasure of the
first dance with you this evening?"

Willow's face turned a shade of red none of them had ever seen before. She
whirled around. "Xander!! You said no one else knew."

Xander smiled sheepishly. "No, I said I was the only one in the room that
knew. And that was before Angel came in."

"But...but...but, how did he find out?" Willow stuttered, deeply embarrassed.

Xander once again turned sheepish. "Um, that would be my fault again. I may
have told him once when we were talking, and may have forgotten to get his
promise that he wouldn't repeat it. Sorry." He watched as she turned a glare
on him. "Hey, no killing the bride before the wedding." Then he jumped off
the bed and ran to hide behind Angel.

*****

"Graham, calm down, we're almost there." Riley laughed at his best friend as
they walked down the street. They'd left Graham and Xander's apartment and
decided to walk instead of driving, trying to work off more of the nervous
energy that Graham seemed to have way too much of. So far, Graham had managed
to wander into traffic only twice, so Riley deemed it a success. He reached
out, pulling Graham to a stop. "Graham, hang back just a minute. I wanted to
talk to you."

Graham stopped, brow furrowing as he caught Riley's eyes. "Sure, Ri, what's
up?"

Riley shuffled from foot to foot. "I've never been good with this emotional
stuff, ya know. But I wanted to tell you, I'm really proud of you, the way
you've stood by Xander through everything that's happened. And we've always
been best friends, as close as brothers. I just wanted to give you this, it's
stupid, but we have this tradition in my family."

Graham grinned. Once upon a time, he'd have given anything to be close to
Riley, and not as brothers. But that was during the time of his life he
called BX, before Xander. Now he was just happy to know that he had a friend
he could call brother. "I know what you mean, Ri, I feel the same way." He
watched as Riley pulled a small envelope from his back pocket and handed it
to him.

Inside the envelope was a piece of paper folded neatly. Graham pulled out and
unfolded it. A few small pictures fell out, pictures of Graham and Riley as
kids, playing together in the fields of Riley's grandparentsâ?? farm. There
were pictures of them in high school, in some, you could clearly see the
infatuation written on Graham's face as he stared at Riley with hero worship.
Still more pictures showed them the day they'd both joined the Marines, then
the day they'd graduated from basic, both of them dressed up in their dress
uniforms. The last picture was the one that got him most, it was one taken
without either's knowledge as they cried silently beside Forrest's grave on
the day of the funeral.

Graham teared up and turned saddened eyes on Riley. "This is great Riley. I
didn't know you still had all these."

Riley cleared his throat before speaking, but his voice was still rough with
emotion. "I had to call Grams to get her to send the earlier ones to me, but
like I said, we have this tradition in my family. When one of us is getting
married, we give them pictures to keep in an album. I was going to have them
bound for you, but I just got them in yesterday and didn't have time. They're
to show that even though you're moving into your own future with the person
you love, you still have a stable foundation that will follow with you."

Graham wiped at his eyes and cleared his own throat. "Yeah, but I didn't give
you anything but a toaster when you got married."

Riley laughed. "That's okay, man. I know how you feel."

Graham looked up, meeting Riley's eyes. "You may know, but I still feel like
I need to say it. I love you Riley. Not in a gropey way, but, you're the best
friend I could've ever had. I feel honored to know that I don't have to lose
that now that I have Xander too."

"Graham, you'll never lose me as a friend. Well, unless you start dating
Angel, then we might have issues. But somehow I don't see that being a
problem."

Graham laughed out loud, happy for the break in the emotional tension that
was hanging between them for the last few moments. But he straightened up,
full of nervousness again, at Riley's next words. "Come on, Gray. Let's go
get you married."

*****

Finally, the guests were all here, the flowers had been set up, Xander had
struggled into his tux with Angelâ??s help. Now they all stood there, waiting
for the two people they couldn't continue without: Xander and Graham.

Willow and Cordelia stood at the altar they'd set up at the very back of
Buffy's property. Xander and Graham would enter from either side of the house
and follow their red carpets to stand before them, facing each other. Willow
had had the florists set up the flowers in a very intricate pattern that
would allow the guests to all view the two men as they came toward the altar,
but they wouldn't be able to see each other until they were before her.

Taking the slow walk up the carpet, Xander reached out and took Angel's hand
in his own, pulling the vampire to a stop. "Angel, am I doing the right
thing? What if...."

Angel looked at Xander, his face full of concern, and reached up to trace his
thumb along the younger man's cheek. "What if, what? Xander, do you love
Graham?"

Looking up, Xander's eyes went wide. "Oh, God yes. More than anything else in
my life."

"Then, if you're really asking my opinion, I believe you're doing the right
thing." Angel turned back toward the altar, offering Xander his arm with a
smile.

Xander slapped at Angel's arm with his free hand and started walking again,
but he didn't let go of Angel's hand again.

Stepping out from behind the flower trails at the same time, the two men
stopped, both gasping as they caught sight of each other. They'd both dressed
in identical black tuxedos, both chosen to wear a white rose bud on their
lapel, and both were left breathless by the sight of the other. They stepped
forward and clasped hands in front of Willow and she reached out to wrap a
length of golden rope around their wrists, tying them together.

Xander stood smiling into Graham's eyes as the priest read the ritual words
in deference to Graham's catholic upbringing, as for himself, everything he
still believed in was here, within sight and touching distance. He tried hard
to pay attention, he really did. But every time he got drawn back into
Graham's eyes, starring into the hazel orbs and getting lost in their depths.
Not to say he didn't keep an eye on other parts. He also gazed longingly at
the full lips, lips that were now curled up in that secret smile that said 'I
know what you're thinking, and you can have it, but not until later'. And
suddenly he realized just how deeply he'd fallen for this man before him,
'cause Gods help him, he even loved his hair. With a start, Xander realized
that everyone was watching him, smiling and chuckling lightly. He turned his
attention back to the priest, only to find Willow starring at him with those
'awww' eyes.

Willow took a deep breath and began the ceremony she and Cordelia had been
practicing for the last week. "Alexander LaVelle Harris, Graham Marshal
Miller, I bind thee here in the presence of the Powers. Hand to hand and
heart to heart, may the two never part." With the weight of power in her
voice that usually signaled a powerful spell, Willow finished the incantation
and backed away. She looked toward Cordelia and nodded for the other woman to
step forward.

Cordelia's voice held no power, but it held something else, something Xander
couldn't identify, as she began to speak. "Willow has bound you together. I,
with the blessing of the Powers, offer you a vision. You both have worked
hard, battling evil, fighting the fight, whatever you want to call it, and it
was never really your fight to fight. The Powers have seen fit to offer you a
reward. I don't know what the reward will be, or when it'll come. But you
will both recognize it when you see it. Now, ask me one question, and one
only, and you will receive the answer."

Graham looked into Xander's eyes and smiled. "Can I?"

At Xander's nod, Graham turned back to Cordelia and smiled shyly. "Will he be
happy?"

Cordelia grinned through her tears as she viewed the vision she was getting.
"He'll be happier with each passing day. You both will. Not to say there
won't be ups and downs, but through it all, you'll be happy together."

Buffy waited for a moment, watching as Xander and Graham shared their first
kiss as a married couple, then stepped forward from her position to Xander's
left just as Riley stepped from beside Graham, the two couples stood together
for a moment before Buffy announced. "Okay, you're hitched. Where's the
cake?"

Everyone laughed at that, the few guests wiping at their eyes and standing to
follow the newlyweds into the house. A few laughed out loud, but were quickly
hushed by others as they saw Angel's gift to Xander. A paper sign hung from
the back of his tux pants that read 'Just Married'.

END


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