Xander woke with a feeling of complete contentment and safety. Which was extremely ironic considering the fact that he was currently cuddling with an unchipped vampire. Not to mention the fact that both he and Spike were being held captive by a powerful Mage with a grudge against the Slayer.

**Of all situations I've found myself in, this has to be the wierdest yet. I am so glad that Spike is here with me. I'd probably be wigged out majorly if he wasn't.**

His thoughts were drawn back to what happened the previous night. Nothing had happened beyond some kissing and light petting since they were both exhausted by all the stress of the past couple of days.

To say that Xander had been stunned to discover that the man he had been secretly attracted to was interested in him as well would be a gross understatement. Once he had recovered from his shock though, he quickly began returning Spike's kiss.

The brunete was drawn from his thoughts when he felt the cool body wrapped around and on top of his own begin to stir. Smiling softly, he watched as the blonde head lifted off his chest and a pair of sleepy blue eyes focused on his face.

"Morning, Spike."

The vampire blinked a couple times as he finished waking up. As the memory of the preivious night came back to him, he began grining widely "Morning, Pet, must say it's nice to wake up with me own personal bed warmer."

Xander blushed and grinned back, unsure as to what to say in reply.

"Well, as much as I'd rather stay here in bed with all day, Xan, we'd better get moving before someone comes busting in looking for us. Got a big day, training and all that rot." the vampire groused, remembering that his XanPet was going to be alone with the Mage for much of the day.

"Yeah, training. I'd forgotten about that. I'm not to happy that we're being split up like this even if it is only for the day." the brunnette replied as he went to get out of bed, a task made difficult by his now long hair that seemed to have a life of it's own.

"Here, Luv, let me give you a hand with that. You're gonna have to keep it braided if you don't want to be falling over all the time."

"That's a great idea, blonde. Only problem is I don't have a clue as to how to do it." Xander sayed in exasperation.

"No problem, Pet. I can braid it for you. Had plenty of practice with Dru, she used to love having me play with her hair." truth be told, Spike couldn't wait to run his hands through the younger man's hair again. Having it running through his fingers was like handling fine silk.

"You can? That'd be great. I think I saw a brush in the bathroom. Be right back."

The blond smiled indulgently as he watched the younger man hurry out of the room.

*****
TBC