*****
Tired, battered, covered in demon goop, Wesley, Cordelia and Angel trudged into the Hyperion.
“Xander?” Cordelia asked, recognizing the young man waiting in the lobby. “Why are you here again? How did you get here?”
“Hitchhiked,” Xander replied turning a dark red.
“Why?” Cordy demanded. Xander’s coloring darkened further, this was the third weekend in less than two months that he’d spent in LA since his trip to the past.
“I’ll call Spike and have him pick you up when you go back,” Angel said. “Next time you come, make him drive you. You could get killed hitching, I don’t want to explain that to Buffy.”
“Why is he even here?” Cordy asked Angel. “Xander wanted to apologize for being a jerk, because you helped him, like a hundred years ago. As if you hadn’t saved him more than once in Sunnydale, but maybe it takes a certain quota for Xander to get the picture. Anyway, I understand, but why does he keep showing up?”
“Cordelia, go home. It’s late and I’m sure you want to get the demon blood out of your clothes before it sets,” Angel replied patiently, dredging up one of Cordy’s frequent concerns. “Xander is my business, don’t concern yourself.”
“It’s just weird, that’s all,” Cordy said. “I mean you two hate each other for years, now he’s like your best friend. If you were a girl I’d think you two had a thing going.”
Xander’s hot blush faded to a pasty white and he started choking.
“Are you all right?” Wesley asked, concerned.
“Fine,” Xander croaked.
“You’ve got to admit, it fits,” Angel said. “Didn’t you and Cordelia have a life long hatred going till you both developed a mutual interest in closets?”
Cordelia simply glared at Angel for a moment.
The tall vampire dropped his gaze to the floor in a gesture experience had taught Cordy to recognize as a blush. “I’m sorry ‘Delia, I should have said that.”
“Thank you, the less said about my temporary insanity the better,” Cordy said. “You’re right about the blood setting though, but don’t think I won’t grill you later.”
“It has been a long night,” Wesley said. “That Darkelie demon led us on quite the chase, you’re probably too tired to cook breakfast anyway.”
“Give me a ride home?” Cordelia asked, taking Angel’s car keys from the vampire’s hand. “I was going to catch a quick shower here and not track demon goo on to my carpet, but it looks like Angel has a hot date.”
Cordelia grinned at Xander’s alarmed expression. “God, Xan, you’re so homophobic, it’s a wonder you actually managed to make it through taking PE with Larry.”
As the door shut behind Cordelia and Wesley, Angel turned back to Xander who was looking thunder struck and said. “Shall we find that closet?”
“Your bed would be fine,” Xander replied, forcing his brain to reengage. “I can’t believe you said that to them. Why didn’t you just tell them we’re sleeping together?”
“I could have,” Angel replied. “It would have been better than denying it, who would have believed me.” Angel pushed Xander back against the elevator doors, kissing the younger man firmly as he began unbuttoning Xander’s shirt.
Xander leaned into the kiss hungrily, straddling Angel’s leg, rubbing himself against the vampire’s muscular thigh.
Angel threaded his finders through Xander’s bordering on longish hair and pulled his head back. “Anya not keeping you satisfied?” he asked.
“It’s not the same,” Xander said, swallowing the rest of rest of what he’d been about to say. “Anya doesn’t need me,” Xander had thought, but he didn’t say it. He doubted Angel would appreciate any reference to the raw need in the souled vampire’s touch.
It was there and it was the most seductive thing Xander had ever felt, but it wasn’t something that Angel necessarily wanted to talk about or even acknowledge.
“Did I mention that Darla’s back?” Angel commented, hitting the elevator button, before turning his attention to undoing Xander’s belt. “My sire, who I killed, in case you didn’t know. The vampire that framed me for attacking Buffy’s mother, remember her?”
“I told Buffy she ought to kill you about then,” Xander commented, shrugging out of his shirt, freeing his hands to deal with Angel’s excess of clothing. “I’m glad she had better sense.”
Angel laughed harshly. “Because I’m a good lay? Darla thought the same thing; it was why she turned me. She thought I’d be fun, and we had a Hell of a time until she gave me that gypsy girl.”
The elevator doors opened behind Xander and the young man started to fall back but Angel caught him easily. “After I got my soul back, I wasn’t so much fun anymore. She was all I had, all I’d know for a hundred and fifty years. My lover, my mother, my teacher, my hunting partner. I didn’t know I could hate myself so much, I didn’t know who I was, what I was. I turned to her for help and she threw me out. I tried to remake myself into her boy despite my soul but I wasn’t good enough, or should I say, bad enough for her, just like I was an eternal disappointment to my father.”
As the elevator rose, Angel finished striping Xander, his voice was softly seductive as always when they were alone, but the underlying anger crept through the soft tones and his hands were rougher than normal on Xander’s now bare flesh. As he spoke, Angel pressed Xander against the cold metal wall of the rising elevator. His cool fingertips rested along the sides of Xander’s face, forcing him to stare into the vampire’s dark eyes. His hips ground against Xander’s erection, the friction between his trousers and Xander’s bare skin flashed between painful and too good with a rapidity that made the younger man’s head spin.
“For a century she wanted nothing to do with me. Then, when I’m finally managing to put some sort of life together, she decides she wants me back. Does her best to fuck up everything I have with Buffy, as if I weren’t perfectly capable of doing that on my own, and makes me kill her.” Angel continued as Xander pushed his shirt open and ran his hands over Angel’s now exposed chest. “Do you have any idea what it cost me to kill her? She was my Sire.”
Xander’s hand paused upon stumbling across a deep gash in the vampire’s side. “Hazard of the job,” Angel commented. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Can we still do this?” Xander asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” Angel replied, his hold on Xander relaxing. Xander took advantage of the moment to layer a series of kisses across Angel’s chest. Angel watched the younger man curiously. He ran a gentle hand over Xander’s shoulder; this was as close to unconditional love as he’d ever been given.
Angel had wanted to believe that Buffy’s feelings for him were without boundaries, but she was too important to him to ever risk testing that.
Xander knew him, knew some of the worst things he’s ever done and he was here. Even with everything Angel had told Xander, the boy still craved his touch. Any sane person would be running but Xander couldn’t stay away.
Angel’s head cocked to the side curiously, he trailed one finger up Xander’s bare arm, along the column of his neck and under his chin. The vampire brought Xander’s mouth up to his and kissed him thoroughly.
Xander moaned, wrapping his arms around Angel’s waist.
________________________________________________________________________
“What do you think is going on between Xander and Angel?” Cordelia asked.
“I’m certain they have quite a lot to work out,” Wesley said. “Years of bad feelings on top of whatever it was that happened between them in the twenties, you know how nervous Angel was about facing Xander after he came back.”
“Did you see Xander’s face?” Cordelia asked rhetorically. “If it weren’t for the curse, I’d think that they really were having an affair. I thought Xander was going to have a heart attack when I suggested that.”
“Cordelia, people often react in that manner to your more blunt statements. It doesn’t mean that you’re correct, just that they can’t believe what they’re hearing,” Wesley replied.
“No, it’s mostly because I’m right, but no one’s used to actually hearing someone tell the truth,” Cordy said. “I bet Xander really is having an affair, not with Angel obviously, but he thinks Angel will protect him from Anya when she finds out about it. She used to be a vengeance demon you know, she’d probably do something really hideous to the guy who dared to cheat on her.”
________________________________________________________________________
Xander lay limply in Angel’s arms, panting heavily, his skin was slick with sweat and cum.
He felt like his bones had melted, like every muscle had come loose. Not even the feel of Angel’s demonically ridged forehead pressed against his cheek or the knowledge that Angel’s undisguised fangs were less than a hands breath from his jugular vein could disturb him.
He was floating on a cloud of exhaustion and after-sex glow. Anyway, if Angel wanted him in a blood way he’d had plenty of chances. Right now, Xander imagined Angel had no more energy than he did and he could hardly be bothered to blink his eyes.
“It had been one Hell of a night,” Xander thought as he drifted off.
________________________________________________________________________
“Oh my God!” Cordelia shrieked waking Angel from sound sleep. “I’m shutting this door and when I open it again there better not be anything traumatizing behind it.”
Even before the door clicked shut, Angel was up, grabbing his clothes and tossing Xander’s at him. “It’s too early in the morning for this,” Xander moaned, staring at the growing pile of clothes on his chest.
“Shower, now,” Angel commanded.
“Whatever you say lord and master,” Xander grumbled, stepping into the bathroom as Angel began buttoning his shirt.
Cordelia reopened the door to Angel’s apartment and looked around with a satisfied sigh. “Much better, no ex-boyfriends naked in my boss’ bed, no naked Angel either. Win some loose some, have you ever considered modeling as a day job Angel? We could use the money.”
“Most employee’s knock before walking into their employer’s home,” Angel commented.
“Yeah, well most employees don’t get splitting headaches with pictures either,” Cordelia retorted. “You weren’t answering the phone. And you owe me taxi fare by the way. We’ve got this…”
Cordelia’s voice trailed off as she heard the shower start. “What I saw before, that wasn’t a headache induced hallucination?” Cordy asked.
“No,” Angel replied.
Cordelia walked over to Angel and examined his eyes critically. “But you’re still you?”
“Yes,” Angel answered.
“Okay,” Cordelia said, stepping back with a decisive nod. “First off, killing you would be majorly damaging to my psyche, plus I’d be unemployed, I wouldn’t even be able to pay for therapy. So just don’t make me go there. Second, I don’t want to see, hear or think about you with my ex-boyfriend, especially not while I remain single, is that understood?”
“In the future, try knocking,” Angel advised.
“Well you could have locked your door!” Cordelia exclaimed.
“You had a vision?” Angel asked with a sigh.
“Oh, right. The vision…”
~fin~