*** Several months later...

"Josh!" Xander screamed, as he watched his friend fall unconscious beside him. The young man had felt ill for the last few days, but he had been feeling better that afternoon, so Xander had taken him out for a walk.

(("Please Alex! I wanna go out. I swear I feel better!" Josh had whined and whined, until Xander had agreed.

"All right, but only for a little walk... nothing exhausting."))

They were on their way back when Josh had put a hand on Xander's arm. "Alex? I'm not feeling so good..."

Xander had turned towards him in panic and only had time to grab the young man's arm before he slid to the ground.

"Josh? Josh! Please, answer me!" He screamed in panic. //Not another one... can't lose another one... please no... not him too.//

"Sir? I called an ambulance." Xander turned around to find a kind looking old lady just behind him. She looked worried, but was still smiling encouragingly at the young brunette. "I'm sure your friend will be all right young man." She squeezed Xander's shoulder.

The boy felt tears in his eyes. "Thank you." He said simply.

"Al..."

Xander turned towards Josh, who had started to come back to himself. "I'm here Josh... I'm right here." He heard the sirens of the ambulance and voices coming from far away, but he didn't register anything; he kept talking to Josh, keeping him awake.

***

"We'll have to run some blood tests. Your friend has some worrying symptoms. Tiredness, coughing..." The doctor said to Xander, sighing.

Xander's mouth fell open as he realised the implications. //Stupid, stupid, stupid...// He kept chanting in his head. He should've known... in this business, who knows what you might catch.

//It can't be...// He thought to himself in shock.

The doctor watched as Xander grew pale. "We don't know anything for sure yet... and we won't before the test results are in" He said trying to reassure the brunette. "I have a few questions to ask you. You're not obligated to answer, but it would be better if you answered me honestly."

Xander nodded.

The doctor took a deep breath and knelt beside Xander. He looked into the shocked youth's eyes. "Is Josh your boyfriend?"

Xander shook his head.

"No... all right... Have you ever had sexual relations with him?"

(("Alex? Make love to me? Please? I wanna know... how it feels..."))

"Once." He answered, his voice hoarse with unshed tears.

The doctor nodded. "Only one more question... this one's the hardest. Remember that you don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable. Ok?"

Xander nodded once more, looking at the floor.

The doctor took another deep breath, clearly nervous. He hated to have to ask that question, but he needed to know.

"Are you..." He hesitated, not sure of the right word to use. "Are you prostitutes?"

After a few seconds of debating with himself, Xander nodded, not able to say a single word.

Looking at the young man's sad face, the doctor felt his heart stop. "How long?" He asked gently.

"Me... seven months..." He passed his hand through his hair. "Josh..." He sighed. "Almost three years." He hid his head in his hands.

"Oh God." The doctor was shocked. "But he's so young."

"I know." Xander said simply.

The doctor shook his head, it wasn't his place to ask more questions. "We'll have to run some blood tests on you too. You look tired and pale... these are not good signs."

Xander nodded yet again and followed the doctor out of the office and into the exam room. //I'm gonna protect him... gonna take care of him... he's not gonna go dying on me. Never.//

***

Xander was fetching a glass of water for Josh when the phone rang. "'lo?"

"Alex! How are you my boy? Haven't seen you in a while."

"Bryce." Xander said coldly. "Sorry, we can't do anything... doctor's orders."

"Doctors don't know anything... you're fine, both of you! I know you are, I'm sure you need money. And I need you."

"No. And there's no discussion. We can't... Josh's really sick and I'm really not feeling good. I told you that already."

"Look boy. You're under contract." //Where? In your head??// "The both of you belong to me. For as long as I want it. I don't care if you're ill, your mom's sick or your puppy died, you get your asses here, or I'm gonna see to it you can't do anything else."

Xander hung the phone, not even bothering to answer. Immediately after, the phone rang again. "Yeah?" He answered angrily, thinking it would be Bryce again.

"Hi! Mister Alexander Harris?"

"Yes."

"This is Doctor Jackson's secretary. The results of your tests are in. Do you want to make an appointment?"

Xander felt his heart stop. "Yes please." He managed to say, knowing the sympathetic young woman at the other side of the line needed his answer.

"How about tomorrow morning at nine thirty?"

"Perfect... we'll be there." He dreaded the moment when he would hear the results; he knew they weren't good at all. But he needed to know, no matter what they were. He hung up the phone and went back to Josh.

***

"Joshua Anderson?" The doctor called. Both of the boys got up. The doctor looked at them. "I'm sorry, but it's one at a time. Confidential..."

Xander looked at Josh, the young man replied. "It's ok... I want Alex to know... I'll tell him anyway... and I would prefer it if he was there... with me."

"Same for me." Xander added.

The doc nodded. "All right..." He stepped aside, following the young men in.

"Please sit down. I've read your files and gone through the results carefully. I'm sorry, the news isn't good. There's no easy way to say this... so I'll just tell you. If either of you have any questions, feel completely free to ask." He looked at Josh first, with a gentle look. "First, we'll have to have some scans taken, we're concerned about the possibility of lung cancer, or at least pneumonia. The worst news however is, you are HIV positive. But the good news is, you haven't developed AIDS and there's no trace of hepatitis."

Xander was in shock. He took a sobbing Josh in his arms and gently stroked his back. "Shhh, I'll take care of you... I promise."

"Tritherapy is very effective. We've seen more and more cases of remission of the disease, when it's discovered and treated in time."

"How long?" Josh asked, his voice muffled and hoarse.

"Pardon?"

"How long... have I been infected?" He repeated, straightening up.

"I'd say about one or two years." The doctor was very gentle. "Maybe more, maybe less, there's no real way to be sure." He took a sheet out of the file. "Here are the prescriptions, they are quite expensive, I'm afraid, but you can always ask for financial help with this matter."

"And me?" Xander really needed to know. Something was telling him he wasn't getting out of it untouched.

"You..." The doctor swallowed and looked down. "It's lucky you brought your friend here..." He couldn't continue, with the sad and scared look both of the young men were giving him.

"What? Tell me... I need to know." Xander said hastily.

"You're HIV positive, but I'm afraid it's worse than that." He took a deep breath. "You have developed the AIDS syndrome and we've discovered you're degenerating very fast. Bronchitis, hepatitis, maybe even cancer. Your system just cannot sustain the illness."

"But..." Josh protested. "If I'm ok and I've been... longer than him... he can't..." He stopped, looking disbelievingly at the doctor.

"I'm sorry." The doctor apologised. "Every living system reacts differently to this particular disease. Some will take a few months, others a few years and some will be positive all their life and not develop AIDS. It really depends on the body and its way of reacting. We've even seen, very recently a few cases of it completely disappearing from the blood, some 20 years after the original infection."

"But that won't be the case for me." Xander said very calmly, looking at the floor. "I'm dying."

"NO!" Josh screamed. "You're not. You can't die." Tears were falling freely from his eyes.

Looking at them, the doctor knew they were each other's anchors, they kept each other sane. If one of them should die, the other would probably follow soon after. He hoped someone could help them, and soon.

"Oh. My. God. It's my fault!" The younger man rocked on the chair hysterically. " was infected before and then... god it's my fault."

"No it's not." The doctor said quickly, wanting to calm them both down. "From what you told me the other day," he said, looking at Xander, "you were infected *before* the two of you did anything."

"When?" Xander asked, his voice even.

"About six or seven months ago." The doc answered, looking at the files. He knew what that meant. The poor boy had such a price to pay.

(("You wanna see stars? I can make you see stars..." The sexy voice echoed in Xander's head. "Come with me. I can make you forget." The man was good looking. Very good looking. Xander had followed him outside the bar and in an alley, where he had been kissed and touched in ways no other men had ever touched him. "You were so good, my boy. You wanna work for me?"))

"Bryce." Xander said simply. Josh looked at him in shock.

"That means... I was infected long before." He gulped.

"Who's Bryce?" The doctor asked.

"Our... pimp." Xander answered honestly.

"Alex!"

"Sorry Josh... I just can't deal with this." He closed his eyes and felt tears fall down his face.

The doctor felt his heart break. This young man looked like his own son. A face and mouth made for laughter and silly jokes. He must have been a really joyful young man... What in the world could have happened to bring him so low?

"For the moment we can't do anything. We're still scanning through the results and you'll have a series of tests to undergo, both of you. We know we probably can help you Josh... and Alex... we'll do whatever is in our power to at least give you more time."

"How long do I have?"

"I'd say six months to a year, maybe more if you respond well to the treatment."

"How much would it cost?" Xander asked, thinking involuntarily about the blank cheques Angel had left him four months before. He had not touched them, but had kept them just in case.

"It's expensive I'm afraid." The doctor said, sighing. He was clearly not enjoying his job at the moment. How much he wanted to tell them everything was gonna be ok, that they'd heal and get better. But he knew that, at least in Alex's case, there was practically no hope. Josh had a chance though, and they were gonna take it.

"We can't..." Josh began.

"No, it's ok. We'll be all right." Xander made the decision at that moment. At least, if he was going to die, he would give Josh every chance he could of getting out of it. "If I don't have treatment how much time do I have?"

"I can't be sure but at this rate, maybe 7 months, but it could be more or less."

Xander swallowed and nodded. "I want Josh to have the best treatment you have, he has a chance. Give it to him. As for me..." He looked at Josh's scared, but grateful eyes. "Give me the basic treatment. Just what it takes so that I don't suffer too much. No matter what you do I'll die in the end and I really want Josh to have a chance. I'm gonna give him all I have."

*****
Part 4:

*** Several months later...

"Alex? You in there?" Josh asked gently, knocking on the bathroom door before entering. "Hey. You shouldn't stay here, it's not good." He said, kneeling beside the other young man, who was sitting on the floor, beside the toilet.

"I can't move." Xander said his voice hoarse.

"Lemme help." Josh said tenderly, helping the young man up. He brought him over to the couch and tucked him back under the covers. "I called the doc, he said he's gonna come over this time."

"No! I told you I was ok." Xander argued.

"No you're not!" Josh argued back. "Look, I don't wanna fight with you. We've already had too much of that."

(("You should tell them Xander." Josh had said gently after Xander had finally talked about his past, though not mentioning demons and vampires. 'They are your family."

"Were... they probably don't wanna see me anymore..."))

This was one of their biggest disagreements. Josh had wanted Xander to head back to Sunnydale, where he had friends and family that could take care of him, but the brunette wouldn't hear of it. It still hurt too much.

A knock was heard on the door.

"I'm gonna get it, you don't move." Josh ordered Xander. The other man nodded. He walked to the door and opened it. "Bryce!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"I told you, I would find you!" Bryce growled in anger. He pushed Josh in and slammed the door.

Josh couldn't move, he was paralysed with fear. They had run away from their pimp as soon as they had gotten the news, and since then they had done a great job of hiding.

"You can't run away from me boy." The pimp said, pushing Josh against the wall and ripping his shirt. "You belong to me, the both of you!" He turned around, holding Josh still. "Where's Alex?" He asked, his voice sour.

"I'm here." Xander answered, from the couch. He slowly got up, his body threatening to betray him with every sudden movement. "Let him go." He said, growling.

"No. That won't work boy. Josh is mine. Always was and always will be. Since the moment I took him, he was mine."

"NO!" The younger man exclaimed, pulling out of Bryce's grip. "I'm nobody's. I'm me and I only belong to me." He said, punching the other man in the face.

"You have guts lad, but you'll learn." He said, reaching for Josh and pinning him to the floor. "I'll show you, just like I did when you were a kid. You remember don't you?" He asked, quickly pulling down both his pants and Josh's.

"No... stop." Josh was sobbing hysterically.

Xander heard it all and saw what Bryce was attempting. Working up all his courage and his Scooby knowledge, he took a stake from the cupboard. He always had one near, even if it seemed bizarre in Josh's eyes.

He knelt behind Bryce, who was too busy trying to keep Josh still to hear or feel him, and properly 'staked' him. Bryce howled in pain and let go of the young man to clutch at his ass.

"What have you done whore?" He screamed.

"Now you know how it feels! Get out, now! Or I'll call the cops and you'll have to answer for all you did to us!" Xander yelled, getting up and opening the door.

Bryce pulled the stake out painfully and quickly pulled up his pants over his bleeding ass. He ran out of the apartment, growling in pain and shooting Xander a disgusted look.

When he was sure Bryce wouldn't come back, Xander closed the door and sighed, leaning on it a second, to steady himself. He looked at Josh and found him sobbing, still on the floor.

"Hey, it's all right." Xander said, walking to his side and taking the boy in his arms. "He's gone and he's not coming back." He slowly stroked the boy's back.

"How... how did he find us?" The sobbing youth asked.

"I don't know, but we have to get out of here." Xander said firmly. Josh looked up at him and nodded.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

"Maybe we could go see your friends. I don't have anyone, but you do. They could help us."

Xander shook his head. "I can't do that to them. They've lost so much already. I can't just go back and die on them."

"But... you need them. They'll be sad, but they'll be happy to see you, I'm sure they will. Giles and Willow and Dawn, you said they were your family... and family helps one another."

Xander felt a tear slowly trickle down his face.

"Who's Angel?" Josh asked gently. He had wanted to ask for a long time, but had never found the right moment.

"What?" Xander looked at him in shock.

"You... when we were... you know, making love, you whispered her name. Who is she?" He was very tender, gently stroking Xander's cheek. He wanted to know, but he didn't want to upset Xander.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." The brunette whispered, blushing and stunned.

Josh smiled warmly. "It's ok. You love her?"

Xander laughed lightly. "I don't think HE would like to be considered a girl." He said, smirking.

"Oh sorry." Josh blushed.

"It's all right. I made a comment like that when I first met him. Asked what kinda name Angel was for a guy." He smiled at the memory then looked in Josh's eyes. "He's great. Gorgeous and nice. Though I never saw him that way before I... left. He found me during that escort a few months ago. He was so nice to me." He blushed, hugging Josh tighter. "I kinda fell in love."

"You've known him for how long?"

"Six years. He was in love with one of my best friends. Bad things happened."

"Oh." Josh wrapped his arms around the older boy. "You should get back on the couch Alex. You're tired." Xander nodded and Josh helped him up.

"We have to go to the drugstore tomorrow to get our medication." He said gently. Xander had always been the one to go. Josh didn't know where he got the money and the other man wouldn't tell him.

"I know. We'll go as soon as I get some rest."

Josh nodded and turned off the light. He still felt sore, but Bryce was gone, hopefully for good.

*** The following day...

Xander slowly got up and went to his room. He switched the light on and opened his closet. Taking out his coat he looked into the inside pocket and pulled a little envelope out. A paper fell and he bent to retrieve it from the ground. It was Angel's note.

I knew you would leave before I could wake up and stop you. Please, take
care of yourself. I enclose the money, 500 and a little more, just so you
don't starve. There's also some blank cheques. You can use them or not, I'm
just putting them there...

If you ever need anything, please know I'll always be there for you... only
a phone call away. You can ALWAYS count on me,
Love,
Angel

Xander read it once more and felt the tears threatening to return, as they did each time he read it. He looked into the envelope and retrieved the last cheque.

"Looks like we've got a problem." He muttered. He had always made a point of not taking a lot of money at once, but now, it was their last one. Xander placed the envelope and the note back in the pocket and walked out of the room.

"Josh? Pack your things, we're leaving." He said, holding the piece of paper tightly between his fingers. He took a pen and made the cheque out for just enough money to buy their bus tickets and medication.

Josh looked at him, surprised. "What do I need?"

"Everything you don't wanna leave behind. We won't be coming back, after yesterday I think it's best."

Josh nodded. "Where are we going?"

"L.A." Xander said, taking a bag out of the closet.

Josh smiled. "When are we leaving?

"We're taking the first bus that's leaving. As soon as we get the medication."

Josh just nodded and hurried to his room, where he packed his bag. Xander did the same, and they met in the doorway. They looked around at their little apartment and Xander smiled at Josh.

"New beginnings and a perfect ending... what do you think?" Xander asked, his voice hoarse with unshed tears. He wanted to see his friends so much. To hug Dawn and to tell Giles what a good man he was, to kiss Willow's cheek and share memories of an innocent past, of a time where they were pure and happy and didn't know anything about bad experiences and death.

Josh smiled sadly. Beginnings for him... an ending for Alex. He couldn't help but feel happy for his friend. They were leaving fast and without any warning, but Josh knew Alex needed that, and he needed it now.

He took the bags, only one for each of them, they didn't have a lot of things. Xander closed the door and locked it. He went downstairs and handed the key to the landlady, promising that the rent would be paid even though they weren't there. The old woman smiled and shook her head.

"I'll find someone else to live there... The both of you take good care, and if I receive any money from any of you, I'll send it back." Xander hugged her and smiled.

"Goodbye Miss Finley. And thanks for everything." Josh said tenderly.

"It was nothing. You're good kids." She smiled sadly at them.

They waved and left.

*****
Part 5:

Six hours later, they were settled on the bus, Josh's head on Xander's shoulder, the young man sleeping. Xander smiled at his friend and looked out the window. Every hour they passed in the bus put San Francisco farther behind, but LA was getting closer and Xander felt scared.

He hadn't really been thinking when he had made the decision and now, his heart was squeezing more and more with each city they passed. //How will the gang react when I'll see them? I'm so not what they remember. I'm so tired... but I don't want to sleep. I'm scared... I'm scared that if I close my eyes, I won't see them again. I need them... I need Angel. God I hope he'll forgive me for leaving, I just couldn't stay... couldn't get away...//

Xander watched the sun settle behind the horizon and looked at his watch. //7:45... only an hour and a half to go. Did I really make the right decision? Taking Josh so far away, well, not that far, but... into a world he knows nothing about with people he's never even met. I don't even know if they'll help, I don't have any money left and I can't leave him like this. He needs me, needs someone to take care of him when...I'm not there anymore.// He looked sadly at his sleeping friend.

The ride was long, but it only gave more time for Xander to think. When the bus finally entered L.A.'s terminal, he had made his decision. He would go to Angel's and ask for help. No matter how much it cost his pride. For Josh's sake, he had to.

"Hey." He whispered, gently pushing on Josh's arm. "Hey wake up sleepy boy. We're here."

Josh opened his eyes and sleepily rubbed them. "We're already here?"

"You slept through all the ride, lazy you." Xander joked. He started coughing and Josh gently stroked his back, handing him a tissue. Xander thanked him with his eyes, and waited until the crisis passed.

"You didn't sleep did you?" Josh asked worried. Xander shook his head. "You need to sleep Alex!"

"Please, don't mother me right now Josh, can we just get off this bus?" Josh nodded and quickly retrieved all the luggage, watching Xander all the time. The other young man was in really bad shape. He looked ready to break.

Xander followed him out and they quickly got into a taxi.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"The Hyperion." Xander answered.

The ride went fast and in less than ten minutes they stopped in front of the huge building. "Here you go boys." Xander handed the driver his money and they got out.

"Wow! This place is huge." Josh said impressed. Xander felt impressed too, but he was so nervous, he felt almost ready to throw up.

"Lets go." They walked to the door, Xander slowly following behind Josh.

"Look Alex, if you don't wanna..."

"No I want to, I need to... it's just... I'm scared Josh. Look at me." He said sadly, waving his hands at himself. "I'm sick, I'm half the person they remember, I'm not anything anymore, not that I was back then but... I use to have a purpose and now... I'm here to die."

Josh felt tears in his eyes. "I don't know what to say Alex... just... we can wait until you're ready."

"I don't have time to wait, it's now or never." Xander said reaching for the handle. He turned it and, smiling at Josh, who smiled back encouragingly, he opened it. He walked into the lobby and felt suddenly scared.

"Hello? Anyone here?" He asked.

"Xander?" Angel asked, walking quickly down the stairs, not quite running. He stopped at the bottom and looked at the young man. "Xander... it's you." He said in wonder. He had almost given up hope of ever seeing the young man again.

Xander blushed and suddenly felt dizzy. He was wavering on his feet and was about to fall when he felt strong arms holding him.

"Here, put him on the couch." Josh said to Angel, rummaging through their luggage to find Xander's pills. "Can you get him a glass of water?" He asked shyly.

Angel looked at the shy young man and nodded. He ran to the kitchen and quickly returned with water. He handed the glass to Josh and watched as the boy gave Xander his pills and made him drink.

"There... you gonna be all right Alex?" Josh asked, worried. He was really impressed by the tall dark man sitting in front of them. Xander nodded and Josh looked at Angel blushing. "Sorry for that, stumbling in your lobby like that."

Angel shook his head. "Oh God, if you only knew how much hope you brought back, I really don't mind. What's your name?"

"Josh... you must be Angel?" He replied.

Angel nodded and looked at Xander. The boy had closed his eyes and was trying to breathe really slowly.

"Xander? What happened to you? You're sick." He said, shocked. He could feel that this was serious. He smelt the disease and his vampiric senses told him he really wouldn't want a taste of his blood.

"I'm... in really bad shape." Xander said.

"Xander... you know I don't want you to lie to me... what do you have? This is really serious, you know I can feel it." Angel asked seriously. He was happy to see the young man and so much more when he realised that it meant he was out of that awful business. But looking at him, shadows below his eyes, so skinny and pale, Angel was suddenly very scared. "Maybe I can help." He offered genuinely.

Xander shook his head, sitting up straight. "You can't help me, I'm way beyond help but... you can help Josh. He still has a chance." He whispered, looking down.

"Help for what? What do I need to do?" Angel asked. He needed to know what they had.

"We're both HIV positive." Xander said, looking straight to Angel's eyes. "I'm... dying."

Angel's heart caught in his throat. "No... you can't."

"I can't tell you that's it's gonna be all right Angel, it's not." Xander said, tears silently trailing down his cheek. "I'm dying." He repeated.

"Isn't there any treatment? Something that can help?" Angel asked, looking disbelievingly at Xander.

"There is, that's the reason why I started to use the cheques you gave me. It's... expensive and... I'm sorry."

"Oh... Xander! Don't be sorry! Ever. I told you they were in case you needed them, you did and you used them. I'm glad that you did."

"There's no more. And we couldn't stay where we were, we... we got a visitor yesterday." Xander said looking down. Josh gently stroked his back, trying not to think about Bryce.

Angel watched as Xander relaxed under the other young man's touch and felt a pang of jealousy starting to build. He shook his head, trying to shake the feeling from his mind. He shouldn't be jealous. "Who?" Angel asked seriously.

Xander looked up and caught a glimpse of yellow in the vampire's eyes. "Bryce." He said really simply.

Remembering well who Bryce was, Angel struggled to keep his gameface at bay. His demon was urging him to go to San Francisco and kill the bastard, but he knew he couldn't.

Xander saw the turmoil Angel was in and gently laid his hand on the vampire's arm. "It's all right, I showed him... how it felt."

Angel looked at Xander. "How?"

"You remember how I always use to have a stake near in case you...?" He trailed off not wanting to scare Josh.

Angel smiled, his eyes glistening with understanding and mischief. "Xander, I always told you stakes were dangerous around me..." He started admonishingly. "...but they can be damn useful otherwise."

Xander started laughing and Angel gathered him up in his arms. Not understanding the joke, Josh looked puzzled, but still smiled at his friend's happy laughter. It had been a while since he had heard it, in fact, he wasn't even sure he had ever heard it and now he realised just how right he had been; Alex... //Xander??// ...needed to be here with his friends and family, it was his only chance of dying at peace and happy. Josh felt tears threaten to fall as he thought of his friend's death, but he quickly pushed them away, it would come, but for the moment he was happy and that was all that mattered.

Angel looked at Josh and smiled. Xander calmed down and snuggled closer to Angel's chest. "I should get both of you in bed. It's getting late and you've had a long day."

Josh nodded, but Xander moaned in frustration. "Can't I stay here? I'm good here."

Angel smiled lightly and stroked the boy's back. "If you want, I can stay with you... but you really need to be in bed." He whispered. Xander let out a long annoyed sigh and Angel smiled, helping the young man up.

Josh looked at them and couldn't help but think they looked like an old couple. He smiled and carried the luggage upstairs, following Angel, who was busy half-carrying Xander.

"Where are all the others?" Xander asked, suddenly realising there was no one else around.

"Fred's in Texas with her parents, she just broke up with Gunn, Cordy's on a higher plane of existence..." He glanced at Josh and added. "Wherever that is..."

"Probably with a guy." Xander quickly added, trying to make it look like a joke. I must have worked, because Josh laughed lightly. "What about Wes?" Angel almost shifted to gameface and Xander felt him tense. "Oh... you don't have to talk about it." He added.

"Just... not now." Angel replied.

Xander nodded as they entered Angel's own bedroom. Angel gently helped him lay down and tucked him under the covers. The young man closed his eyes, but didn't fall asleep, he just rested.

Angel looked at Josh. "You'll take the room just next to this one. This might be a huge hotel, but there's only three rooms that are even partially ok. This one, the one next door and Fred's room one floor up."

"Who's this Fred?" Josh asked.

"A friend. She's visiting her parents in Texas for the summer..." Angel trailed not wanting to deliberate on the reasons. He opened the bedroom door and Josh entered.

"You'll be all right?" Angel asked.

"Yeah." Josh said blushing slightly. "Thanks so much."

"It's nothing. The bathroom's there and if you need anything, you know where to knock."

"You'll be... sleeping with Alex?" The young boy asked shyly.

"If he wants yeah." Angel said, smiling lightly.

"Oh he wants." Josh whispered, as Angel closed the door and went back to his own bed and to Xander.

*****