“Your Aunt and Uncle are certainly…” Spike finally said, breaking the silence.

“Interesting?” Xander supplied.

“Different,” Spike finished. “I can see why you wanted to come out here and see them. They’re definitely a step up from the White Hats that you’ve been hanging around with.”

“You’re just saying that because you think Justin’s hot,” Xander teased his lover.

“He’s not bad,” Spike said, nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t kick him out of our bed if he cared to join us. Especially if he brought that Brian bloke with him that you’ve been telling me about. That is, if that description you gave is accurate.”

“Trust me, it is,” Xander assured him. “There’s a reason that Brian Kinney is known as the Stud of Liberty Avenue.”

“Is that why that cousin of yours has such a hard-on for him?”

“Noticed that, did you?’ Xander asked his lover, who only gave him a look that clearly said ‘Duh.’ “Yeah, I think Michael has had a crush on Brian since they first met when they were fourteen, but Brian’s never done anything with him. I think he sees Michael as a brother and doesn’t want to risk fucking up their friendship. Hell, Brian sees Debbie as his mom and Vic as something like a surrogate father. He used to come here as an escape.”

“What kind of escape?” Spike felt his lover tense up a bit and waited for Xander to answer him.

“Remember what I told you about my parents and the way they treated me as I was growing up?” Spike nodded his head, growling at the same time as he remembered the things that the elder Harris’ said to their son when they found out about his relationship with Spike. When Xander told his parents that he was gay, their yelling could be heard down the street. When it was finally over, Xander found himself homeless and with his parents telling him that they no longer had a son. Luckily for Xander, he and Spike had already found an apartment, which was why they were telling the Harris’s about their relationship. Spike swore that the first thing he would do when he finally got the chip out of his head would be to make Xander’s parents regret ever raising a hand to their son.

“What about those sorry excuses for humans?”

Well, remember how I told you that one of the only reasons I actually managed to survive the hellhole that was Casa De Harris?” Spike nodded.

“You said that you had a friend that was older than you who had gone through the same thing as you were,” Spike said, remembering the stories that his lover had told him about his childhood. “That he told you that whenever things got to hard for you that you could call him and he would do what he could to help you out.”

“That person was Brian,” Xander said flatly. “He’s the one that helped me deal with the shit that was my life at that time. One time, right before I was supposed to come out here and visit, my dad lost his job. It wasn’t a good time for my family. I don’t even know what I had done that one night, if I had actually done anything at all. All I remember is him coming into my room screaming and yelling like a fucking banshee and by the end of it all, I had a black eye and a broken arm. I got here and Brian took one look at me, I think I must have only been twelve or so and he was twenty-two or twenty-three and he knew what had happened because he had lived through the same thing. He took me aside, even though he didn’t have to, and made sure that I was okay and he spent that summer making sure that what was going on with my parents wasn’t my fault.” Xander sat up and Spike recognized the look. It was the look that his lover often held when he suddenly thought of something that had been bothering him.

“What is it, luv?”

“I think I finally figured out why Michael doesn’t like me,” Xander told the blond vampire. “I never put two and two together until now. Probably because I always hated thinking about my childhood.”

“Well, out with it pet,” Spike demanded. “What bug crawled up your cousin’s arse?”

“Michael has had a huge crush on Brian ever since the two of them met,” Xander said. “I mean, huge. It’s the main reason why he refuses to admit that there might be some actual feelings between Brian and Justin. Well, at least on Brian’s side. I don’t think Mikey wants to admit that Brian can actually fall in love with someone and that someone not be Mikey himself.”

“Has this Brian bloke ever given your cousin any indication that his feelings might be returned.” Xander looked over at his lover and kissed him deeply and the two men lost themselves in that passion for a moment. Finally they had to pull apart so that Xander could breathe. “Fuck, luv, what was that for?”

“Do you have any idea how sexy you are when you start sounding like Giles?” Spike raised his eyebrows.

“Something you’d like to tell me about you and the Watcher, pet? Some fantasies that you haven’t shared with me?” Xander visibly shivered from that thought.

“Ewww, gross. That’s my father figure you’re talking about there,” Xander admonished the vampire. “I just meant, I love it when you show me your softer side.”

“Oy, I don’t have a softer side. I’m the bid, bad after all.”

“I know, I know,” Xander said, smiling at his lover.

“So, answer my question already.” Xander had to think a minute so that he could actually remember what he and Spike had been talking about.

“Oh, yeah. Not as far as I know, but that never stopped Michael from believing that he and Brian were meant to be together.”

“So what does that have to do with your cousin being a wanker about the way he treats you.”

“It all started that summer that Brian let me hang out with him even though I was so much younger,” Xander explained. “Ever since then, Mikey has made it clear that he doesn’t like me. Maybe he was jealous that Brian did that.”

“If that’s the case, then you’re cousin is a bigger idiot that I was already giving him credit for,” Spike grumbled, hating anyone treating his lover with anything less than the respect that he thought Xander deserved. It was why he hated the way Xander’s friends back in Sunnydale treated him and why he suggested that Xander come to Pittsburgh and see his aunt and uncle. “It sounds like Mikey’s problem is exactly that. Mikey’s problem.”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to worry about it. Especially considering that now that we don’t have to worry about Buffy or Willow or anyone seeing, I can see you in the sun. I love spending time with you during the day.” Spike grinned at the thought of spending the day with his lover outside. It was a luxury that the other White Hats didn’t know about. As far as they knew, Angel had destroyed the Gem of Amara, not realizing that, at the last minute, Spike had actually switched the ring with a fake. Xander and Spike had taken great care in keeping that fact a secret, knowing that their friends would try and take the ring from Spike, not wanting him to have the power the ring gave him.

“I still can’t believe the poof hasn’t realized that the ring he got was a fake,” Spike chuckled. “Like he would have been able to destroy something that powerful by smashing it with a brick.”

“And since when did we ever give Deadboy credit for using his brains?”

“Good point. I’m just glad that we’re finally away from slutty and the rest of your so-called friends,” Spike said. Xander didn’t bother to say anything to his lover, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to change his mind. Spike had made it clear that he did not like Buffy and company treated Xander. He stated on numerous occasions that he thought they were taking advantage of Xander, including the way that they had dumped Spike on him when Giles had company. Not that either man actually minded, but Xander thought that it would have been nice if he had been asked if he could take Spike in. Especially since he was living in the basement of his parents’ home at the time.

“Spike, you know. We’re finally away from the Hellmouth. We don’t have to worry about patrolling or prophecies or dealing with research. And we are in a great bed. The last thing I want to do with talk about Buffy.”

“Really, pet. And just what did you have in mind?” Xander just smiled before launching himself at his lover. ‘What a way to spend a vacation,’ both men thought, before they weren’t able to think anymore.