| 'Tis the Season by Arrie |
| Archivist's Note: This was written for me, M?ichelle, by Arrie as part of a secret santa on the m-mSlashaholics list. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Thank you. Happy Christmas." Xander forced himself to smile at the cheery sales assistant as she handed over his change. Sure, real happy. Can't wait to share my frozen turkey dinner with the crazy vampire who lives in my closet. Grabbing his shopping he headed out to the car. Christmas in his house had never been what you could call fun, but at least there had been somebody other than Spike to spend it with. This year, Buffy and Dawn were doing a sisterly bonding celebration that involved just the two of them, and Willow was doing some witchy solstice thing as part of her new in touch with nature vibe. Given that Anya was still in post re-humanisation shock, that left just Xander and his nutso roommate to pull the crackers and trim the tree. Although there wasn't actually a tree. He hadn't really been in the mood for all that, especially following the wedding that wasn't. This had been meant to be his and Anya's first Christmas as Mr and Mrs, but he'd blown that and he was pretty sure that having to spend it with Spike instead was his karmic punishment for the whole jilting thing. Not that that had stopped Xander from trying to get rid of him. Several times. Most recently last night, when he had informed the undead pain in his ass that he had to shut up or get out. That incessant talking to imaginary people was driving him crazy, and the thought of several work free days with nothing to do but stay at home and watch comedy re-runs while Spike babbled in the background wasn't exactly filling him with seasonal joy. Dropping his bags in the trunk, he climbed in the car and headed for his apartment and what would undoubtedly be his best Christmas yet. ~*~*~*~*~ Reaching his apartment, he struggled to hit the button on the elevator without letting go of any of the five bags of shopping he was juggling. Two days was a long time not to be able to buy any food, and it would never do to run out. Of course, there was also the bag of blood he'd picked up from the butchers, and dropping that would be really messy, and leave Spike without food. Not that he would care much if the bleached one starved, but Buffy had left him with severe warnings about what would happen if he didn't take reasonable care of Spike. And there was NEVER a good reason to upset the Slayer. With the decision not to stake Spike over Christmas pretty much made for him, Xander turned his attention back to the elevator, which had still not arrived. And the lights that showed which floor it was on weren't lit up at all. Great. Broken elevator, third floor apartment and several grocery bags that were getting heavier by the minute. Taking a deep breath to stop himself from uttering a string of words that Mrs Bateman in the ground floor apartment had probably never heard before, let alone used, he headed for the stairs. By the time he had stumbled up three flights of stairs that seemed much steeper than he remembered, Xander was short enough of breath that he had to conclude that six years of semi-regular demon fighting hadn't done as much for his cardio-vascular fitness as he thought. And by the time he had juggled five bags of groceries in one hand long enough to pull his keys out of his pocket and he had to concede that his co-ordination hadn't been much helped either. A theory confirmed when he dropped one of the bags as he pushed open the door, scattering the bag of apples that were his one concession to healthy eating across the room. The resulting shower of words so blue they would have made Spike blush distracted him from noticing straight away that the apartment was a little different to when he left for work that morning. Dropping the remaining bags of shopping in the doorway, he opened his eyes properly and took in the alterations to his apartment. The room was dimly lit by candles and a string of fairy lights on a tastefully decorated Christmas tree that definitely hadn't been there before. Under the tree was a small pile of Christmas presents, none of which were the ones Buffy had dropped off before heading out to do the sisterly bonding thing. The heap of cards that had been gathering dust on the table were strung over the fireplace and there was no sign of the general clutter he had created since Anya stopped coming over and he stopped cleaning. As he noted all the embellishments, he heard a noise behind him and Spike stepped out of the bedroom <closet>. Xander shook his head to rid himself of the strange feeling of guilt that making Spike sleep in his hall closet gave him. "Spike." Just the sight of the vampire rekindled the anger that had been burning in him since Buffy dropped off his new housemate, but that had abated in the face of his beautifully decorated apartment and the brief flash of shame about Spike's living quarters. "What the hell are you playing at?" Well, it must have been Spike. The others were all busy doing their own Christmas things. "What? What the bloody hell do you mean?" Spike sounding the most coherent and sane he had since being rescued from the school basement. "All this." Waving his arm to encompass the tree, presents, decoration and Holy mother of god, were they mince pies? 'All this' was either a big joke at Xander's expense or the result of Spike's guilty conscience and either way, Xander didn't like it, and was happy to inform the vampire of that fact. A flash of hurt crossed Spike's face, too brief for Xander to notice, and quickly replaced by anger. "Wasn't my idea." He said defensively. "Like I've got nothing better to do that plan Christmas for the Slayer's spare part. Witch's idea. I'm just s'posed to organise it all, in return for not getting staked, or so the Slayer said." "Buffy and Willow did this? For me?" A smile appeared on Xander's face, Christmas suddenly seeming like such a bad thing. "Well, they bullied me into doing it. And did the shopping, on account of my habit of bursting into flames and all. I did the tree. And I'm cooking" "You're cooking? Like, real food?" "No need to sound so surprised. I can, y'know. Used to help my mum all the time, before�" As usual, mention of his pre-vamp days seemed likely to descend Spike back into the insane babbling that had been a major theme of the last few weeks. The last thing Xander wanted was to spend Christmas with the crazy vamp. With that in mind, he said something to Spike that he couldn't believe from the moment it left his mouth. "Thanks, Spike. Fancy a beer?" Several hours, and many beers later, Xander was starting to think that Christmas with Spike might not be so bad after all. The beer had got him talking about his pre vampire days, and Xander had to admit it was pretty interesting. And staring at Spike's chiselled cheekbones in the dim light was pretty easy on the eyes as well. Just as Xander's brain caught up with that thought the phone rang. "Xander's house of Elves. How may we help?" "Xander, hey." "Willow, light of my life. What can I do for you?" "Just wanted to make sure you were enjoying your little Christmas surprise. Did you like it? Have you opened the presents yet?" Jumping in to stem the babble, Xander answered all her questions before she could add anymore. "Yes, I'm enjoying. Yes, I liked it. No, I haven't opened any yet. Are they safe? Nothing witchy?" "Err, no, not witchy. Spike doesn't really go in for witchy. I don't think." "Spike bought the presents?" Xander looked up at the vampire across from him on the sofa, only to see that Spike was reluctant to meet his eyes. Obviously, he could hear both sides of the conversation. "Yes, and he wouldn't tell us what they were. He's had me and Buffy running round like mad things, buying chestnuts, and trees, and stuff. Said he wanted you to have a proper Christmas." Xander was suddenly lost for words. Spike had come up with this. But why? "Xand? You still there?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry." "Listen, just be nice to the blond menace, okay. I think he likes you." "Likes me? What do you mean?" Xander realised he was talking to a dialling tone, and dropped the receiver on the cradle. Looking up, he noticed that while he was talking, Spike had moved much closer to him and was that mistletoe. He was obviously much drunker that he'd realised, because as Spike moved closer, he made no effort to get away. "Merry Christmas, pet" said the vampire, moving so that his lips brushed against Xander's, at which point Xander stopped thinking altogether. Back to the archive |