Untitled Xangel WIP - PG13 (eventually NC17) - 1/?
!notes!: This story is a continuation of litgal 's "Proclivity". I asked her permission, and she gave it. The story starts directly at the end of that one, which is only a one-shot. It's not necessary to be read first, but I encourage you to so it makes more sense, and because it's a damn good fic.
Title: Untitled Xangel
Chapter Number:1
Overall Rating: NC17
Chapter Rating: PG13
Summary: After getting caught in the act by Buffy, Spike ditches Xander for her. Shortly after, Xander is also abandoned by his friends and turns to the only one he has left: Cordelia. In LA he starts to put his life together again, despite the changes he was unprepared for.
Disclaimer: No characters from BtVS or AtS are mine, nor do I claim them to be. I am using the characters purely for fun and entertainment purposes.
Overall Warnings: slash, mpreg, angst, swearing, sex
Chapter Warnings: swearing, angst
Main Pairings: Angel/Xander, ex-Spike/Xander
He was numb. Numb and cold. How could this be happening? Spike had said… Had said he loved him. Spike had lied. Had been seeing Buffy, too. But Xander had believed that lie. All those lies. Now all he had was a handful of betrayed promises and a broken heart. And with them, he stumbled his way home, the road blurred by tears.
Days later, while hiding from the world in his apartment, there was knocking on the door. He peered out and saw Buffy. He smiled a little. Maybe they could mope and bitch about the dick of a vampire together.
But when he let her in, she went on the offensive. She blamed him. She said he had ruined her boyfriend. She said Spike told her he didn’t love Xander. That he had sworn himself to her alone.
And she said he’d better stay the fuck away from him. From them. Then she stormed out of his apartment, her shoes clacking all the way. With each snap of her heels, his heart cracked a little more, and as the door slammed shut, it shattered.
He collapsed right where he was and began sobbing. He had lost two of his three closest friends over one stupid thing. Over something he didn’t do. He lost Spike and Buffy to this stupid, reckless shot at a relationship. And it didn’t take long for a message to be left on his phone from Willow, telling him that she couldn’t believe that he would do that to Buffy. That he would take her happiness. Was he really so selfish?
And that was it. Now he had no one left in Sunnydale. No one to care about him, and no one for him to care about.
So when he could pick himself up, he called the one person out of town he had. Without her, he would be truly, fully alone, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever handle that.
“Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless, Cordelia Chase speaking.”
“Cord, you answer your cell that way now?”
“Xander! Yes, temporarily. The hotel’s phone line is being worked on. What’s up? I haven’t heard from you in a month! How’re things with Mister Sexy-Vamp?” Xander nearly choked at the question.
“We, uh, kinda…”
“Oh my God, you broke up?” Cordelia shrieked. “I thought you guys were so happy together!”
“Yeah, so did I.”
“Oh, Xan… What happened?”
“Buffy…walked in on us in his crypt.”
“Oh, that can’t have gone well.”
“She was all dressed up. Like, date-dressy.”
“Oh no.”
“She left in tears, the stupid bastard shouting to her that she was his queen. That he loved her. That I couldn’t give him what she could.” Why was he never enough? Cordelia was silent. “When I went to leave he got pissed that I was upset. That was three days ago. Cor… Buffy came by today and basically cut ties with me, and then Willow called all disappointed and angry.” Xander was on the verge of tears again. “He convinced her that he loved her; that I was nothing. And she decided that I corrupted him. How could she freaking think that?”
“I don’t know. She must be a moron. Xander, do you want to come down to LA? I’ve got space in my apartment you can use, or I’m sure Angel has a room he can give you.” Xander sniffed and wiped at his running nose.
“Yeah. I… With everybody siding with Buffy, I’ve got nothing left here.”
“You’ve got a car, right? Come on down. Just pack up and leave. And when they realize Spike’s a two-timing liar and they need you, you won’t be there and they can just wallow in their shit.” Xander coughed out a laugh at her swear. He always thought her mouth was too innocent to expel such vulgarity, but after her time spent with Gunn and his street pals, it was only natural that her vocabulary expanded.
“Okay. I’ll be in LA tomorrow afternoon.”
“Alright. Hang in there, because this is not going to kill you. You’ll move on and you’ll find someone else. I promise.”
“Thanks.” He was saying goodbye as he remembered something else. “And Cordy?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. You’re a great friend, and I fucked things up a long time ago, and I wouldn’t have blamed you for never wanting to talk to me again, but here you are offering me a place in your life.”
“Shut up and pack your stuff,” she said, pretending she wasn’t touched, but he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Okay.”
~
As his car crossed the city limits into LA, Xander almost physically felt a weight lift. Here he didn’t have to be the dork from high school that Willow and Buffy expected him to be. He didn’t have to be the love object Spike had molded him to be. He could be him. He could start over.
Sure, Cordy had some preconceptions, but she had always been better at seeing through bullshit than Buffy or Willow. She’d known he was becoming something more while those he was closest to expected him to stagnate. And Angel would anticipate biting and sarcastic comments, but Xander couldn’t honestly say he harbored any true ill will for the vampire. In school, it was all fueled by jealousy, uncertainty, and a smidgen of attraction that he didn’t know how to deal with.
Now he felt that he could start anew. Wesley was around as well, he knew, but Xander couldn’t name a reason not to get along with him either. The static between the Watcher and the Scoobies had all been based on a sense of Giles-replacement that none of them liked. But three years later Xander could, and probably would to Wesley, that it was an immature way of dealing with their feelings, even if they were barely adults.
But first on his list of things to do was find something to eat and then get to Cordy’s. He hadn’t waited for morning to leave, having packed everything of import in just over an hour, so it was dark now, and he really just wanted to get off the streets before something bad could happen.
He was prepared for a vampire and would run from anything bigger than that, but it was human thugs he was actually afraid of.
So he drove through a Taco Bueno and then headed for Cordelia’s apartment. He’d been there once the year before, but he still got turned around. When he finally found the familiar building, he grabbed his three bags and hightailed it up the stairs.
He knocked on the door and gave her his brightest smile. “Hey Cor.”
“Xander! You said tomorrow!” She hugged him and brought him inside. She showed him where he could put his stuff, and together they ate the tacos, just talking to catch up, ignoring everything that had brought him to her.
Cordelia had the couch made up in a matter of minutes once they were ready to get to sleep, and Xander thanked her with a small smile.
“It’s not a problem. I mean, if I were in the same sitch I’d expect you to do at least this much for me.”
“Of course, Cordy,” Xander laughed, sitting down on his makeshift bed.
“Anything else you need?”
“I think I’m okay for now. You’re working tomorrow?”
“I can take off if you want.”
“No, go in. We can hang out in the evening, okay?”
“Sure. What did your job say about leaving so suddenly?”
Xander blinked. “I forgot to call. I mean, I haven’t been in for a few days, but… I guess if I’ve still got a job I could ask for a referral somewhere over here.”
“You figure that out in the morning. For now, get some sleep. You look like you could use it.”
Xander smiled a little and nodded. “Yes ma’am!”
“Now that’s what I like to hear from a man!” Xander watched Cordelia make her way to the bedroom, then laid down and eventually fell asleep.
~
Waking up was an interesting experience. At first, he forgot where he was. When he recalled, he flopped back down onto the pillows he had jerked up from. What surprised him next was a tray with cereal and juice on it floating onto the low coffee table. Then he remembered Cordelia’s apartment was haunted by a ghost. He desperately wracked his mind for the name, but unable to draw it up, he merely smiled and mumbled, “Thanks.”
The sun was up, and according to the clock on the wall, it was mid-afternoon. Xander was surprised to have slept so late, but considering he’d gotten very little sleep after the…breakup, he it wasn’t as surprising as it might have been. Finishing his breakfast, he located the phone and called work.
After a long, one-sided shouting match, Xander managed to get in that he’d been having a personal emergency and had forgotten to call. A bit more lecturing, but less yelling, and then Xander told his boss that he wouldn’t be coming back to work and was actually already in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, the company didn’t have any LA branches and he didn’t know anyone that would take a competitor’s word on a potential worker. Xander thanked him for thinking of it anyway, and then swore for a while after hanging up. When Cordelia came home, he was scanning the paper for want ads.
Cordy watched him for a moment before smiling to her ghost-mate and thanked him for bringing her a glass of water. “Did you call work?”
“Yeah.”
“And what’d they say?”
“That they’re terribly sorry but there’s no one here to transfer me to and contractors are extremely competitive and don’t like to accept workers from other companies for, I assume, fear of getting bad work.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Thus, I’m looking through the newspaper.”
“Mm.” Xander glanced up at her, but Cordelia was busily drinking her water. Shrugging, Xander went back to the paper. “Anything come up yet?”
“Nada. At least, nothing that I could manage to sustain myself with. Nothing I’ve ever been good at before.”
Cordelia came over to sit across from him, setting a glass of water down for her guest. “Well, I was just saying to Angel today that we could really use some more help around the hotel.”
Xander looked up. “Really? Cordy, I don’t know. I mean, Deadboy and I haven’t gotten along well in the past, and as much as I’m ready to bury the hatchet, he doesn’t really seem like the… hatchet-burying type sometimes.”
“Well, it was a thought. And you’d be surprised.”
“What kind of help?”
“Huh? Oh, another pair of hands, you know. Someone more to go out to kill stuff, somebody to answer the phone if I want a day off for once. More eyes on the texts, that kind of stuff.”
“How many of you are there already?” Xander asked, taking a drink.
“Well, Angel, Wes, and Gunn usually handle the monsters, Lorne is kind of our go-to for information, I answer phones, set up appointments, and get migraine-inducing visions. Wes and Angel can read all the demonic texts, and Wes covers the magic-stuff. Fred’s still coming into her own and finding her place, but she’s not bad at the books, either. Just in a different way.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t ‘oh’ me,” Cordelia teased.
“Are you the only girl there?”
“No, Fred’s there.”
“…But Fred is a boy’s name.”
“Short for Winifred,” Cordy said with a light kick to his shins.
“Of course. How silly of me.” Xander lifted his water glass.
“Right. Anyway, Hannah is really where Fred seems to be shining when she ventures out to join the populace.”
“Hannah?”
“Angel’s daughter.” Xander choked on the water, collapsing into a coughing fit. “Xander? Xander!” Cordelia reached over to smack him a few times, shaking her head. “What was that about?”
“Angel’s got a daughter?!”
“Well, yeah. You didn’t know that?”
“No! No, I didn’t! When did that happen?”
“She… Well, no, I guess you wouldn’t know, huh?”
“Cordy, how often am I out here? Practically never!”
“I know, I just… I guess I thought Buffy would’ve grown up a bit in the last three years.”
“Huh?”
“Hannah is Buffy’s. That ‘moment of perfect happiness’ produced a daughter. As far as anyone can figure, it has to do with Buffy being the Slayer or something. I guess normally they’re infertile and vamps are sterile but when you mix them…” She rolled her eyes. “But whatever.”
“Buffy hid that she was pregnant for that long? And hid the baby until she could send it off with Angel after graduation? I don’t… How did we not notice?”
“I don’t know. I felt just as bad when I found out, but…” She shrugged. “Nothing to be done now.”
Xander sat back, wondering how Spike would feel if he knew that his precious Buffy had had Angel’s baby. Then it struck him that Buffy could have Spike’s babies. That she wouldn’t hide that like she had Angel’s. That…they would raise them together like a family while Angel was stuck a single father, struggling to protect a little girl from the gruesome life he lead, and-
Xander bolted for the bathroom. Cordelia was sitting at the table for a few moments longer before following, wondering what was up.
“Xander?” she called. Her only answer was the sound of him retching. She hurried to the bathroom and knelt beside him, stroking back his hair. “You okay? What happened?”
Xander shrugged and heaved again. He’d gotten so angry at the thoughts of Buffy abandoning her child the way she had, of her then rejoicing in having more. The thought of her having them with the man that he had loved. That he still loved, whose children he would give everything to have. The anger to sorrow to anger to grief and turned his stomach violently. But he couldn’t share that with Cordy, he just couldn’t.
He didn’t want her to think he was weak or pining over something that was gone.
But her hand on his back felt good.
~
During dinner, Xander asked if Cordelia was serious about the potential job at Angel Investigations.
“Totally! And I’m sure Angel could give you a room in the hotel. Fred lives there, and so do Angel and Hannah. We all crash there if it gets too late or we’re too exhausted to go home. You guys just have to play nice a bit.”
“Well, is it paying? I mean, just because I have a roof doesn’t mean I’m eating.”
“Xander, if you’re ever not getting enough, just ask somebody to share. It happens. Angel’s got enough to keep us from starving and in apartments, so don’t worry too much.”
“Okay, just… Get him used to the idea of someone else around, first. Let him know you’ve got a friend. If you just spring him with ‘Xander wants a job’ I don’t think I’ll get it.”
“If you’re sure. Honestly, I could probably just bring you in with me and put you to work. That’s how I got the job. I just created my own position.” Xander laughed. “I’m serious!”
“I know. I believe you. It’s just funny.”
Title: Untitled Xangel
Chapter Number:1
Overall Rating: NC17
Chapter Rating: PG13
Summary: After getting caught in the act by Buffy, Spike ditches Xander for her. Shortly after, Xander is also abandoned by his friends and turns to the only one he has left: Cordelia. In LA he starts to put his life together again, despite the changes he was unprepared for.
Disclaimer: No characters from BtVS or AtS are mine, nor do I claim them to be. I am using the characters purely for fun and entertainment purposes.
Overall Warnings: slash, mpreg, angst, swearing, sex
Chapter Warnings: swearing, angst
Main Pairings: Angel/Xander, ex-Spike/Xander
He was numb. Numb and cold. How could this be happening? Spike had said… Had said he loved him. Spike had lied. Had been seeing Buffy, too. But Xander had believed that lie. All those lies. Now all he had was a handful of betrayed promises and a broken heart. And with them, he stumbled his way home, the road blurred by tears.
Days later, while hiding from the world in his apartment, there was knocking on the door. He peered out and saw Buffy. He smiled a little. Maybe they could mope and bitch about the dick of a vampire together.
But when he let her in, she went on the offensive. She blamed him. She said he had ruined her boyfriend. She said Spike told her he didn’t love Xander. That he had sworn himself to her alone.
And she said he’d better stay the fuck away from him. From them. Then she stormed out of his apartment, her shoes clacking all the way. With each snap of her heels, his heart cracked a little more, and as the door slammed shut, it shattered.
He collapsed right where he was and began sobbing. He had lost two of his three closest friends over one stupid thing. Over something he didn’t do. He lost Spike and Buffy to this stupid, reckless shot at a relationship. And it didn’t take long for a message to be left on his phone from Willow, telling him that she couldn’t believe that he would do that to Buffy. That he would take her happiness. Was he really so selfish?
And that was it. Now he had no one left in Sunnydale. No one to care about him, and no one for him to care about.
So when he could pick himself up, he called the one person out of town he had. Without her, he would be truly, fully alone, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever handle that.
“Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless, Cordelia Chase speaking.”
“Cord, you answer your cell that way now?”
“Xander! Yes, temporarily. The hotel’s phone line is being worked on. What’s up? I haven’t heard from you in a month! How’re things with Mister Sexy-Vamp?” Xander nearly choked at the question.
“We, uh, kinda…”
“Oh my God, you broke up?” Cordelia shrieked. “I thought you guys were so happy together!”
“Yeah, so did I.”
“Oh, Xan… What happened?”
“Buffy…walked in on us in his crypt.”
“Oh, that can’t have gone well.”
“She was all dressed up. Like, date-dressy.”
“Oh no.”
“She left in tears, the stupid bastard shouting to her that she was his queen. That he loved her. That I couldn’t give him what she could.” Why was he never enough? Cordelia was silent. “When I went to leave he got pissed that I was upset. That was three days ago. Cor… Buffy came by today and basically cut ties with me, and then Willow called all disappointed and angry.” Xander was on the verge of tears again. “He convinced her that he loved her; that I was nothing. And she decided that I corrupted him. How could she freaking think that?”
“I don’t know. She must be a moron. Xander, do you want to come down to LA? I’ve got space in my apartment you can use, or I’m sure Angel has a room he can give you.” Xander sniffed and wiped at his running nose.
“Yeah. I… With everybody siding with Buffy, I’ve got nothing left here.”
“You’ve got a car, right? Come on down. Just pack up and leave. And when they realize Spike’s a two-timing liar and they need you, you won’t be there and they can just wallow in their shit.” Xander coughed out a laugh at her swear. He always thought her mouth was too innocent to expel such vulgarity, but after her time spent with Gunn and his street pals, it was only natural that her vocabulary expanded.
“Okay. I’ll be in LA tomorrow afternoon.”
“Alright. Hang in there, because this is not going to kill you. You’ll move on and you’ll find someone else. I promise.”
“Thanks.” He was saying goodbye as he remembered something else. “And Cordy?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. You’re a great friend, and I fucked things up a long time ago, and I wouldn’t have blamed you for never wanting to talk to me again, but here you are offering me a place in your life.”
“Shut up and pack your stuff,” she said, pretending she wasn’t touched, but he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Okay.”
~
As his car crossed the city limits into LA, Xander almost physically felt a weight lift. Here he didn’t have to be the dork from high school that Willow and Buffy expected him to be. He didn’t have to be the love object Spike had molded him to be. He could be him. He could start over.
Sure, Cordy had some preconceptions, but she had always been better at seeing through bullshit than Buffy or Willow. She’d known he was becoming something more while those he was closest to expected him to stagnate. And Angel would anticipate biting and sarcastic comments, but Xander couldn’t honestly say he harbored any true ill will for the vampire. In school, it was all fueled by jealousy, uncertainty, and a smidgen of attraction that he didn’t know how to deal with.
Now he felt that he could start anew. Wesley was around as well, he knew, but Xander couldn’t name a reason not to get along with him either. The static between the Watcher and the Scoobies had all been based on a sense of Giles-replacement that none of them liked. But three years later Xander could, and probably would to Wesley, that it was an immature way of dealing with their feelings, even if they were barely adults.
But first on his list of things to do was find something to eat and then get to Cordy’s. He hadn’t waited for morning to leave, having packed everything of import in just over an hour, so it was dark now, and he really just wanted to get off the streets before something bad could happen.
He was prepared for a vampire and would run from anything bigger than that, but it was human thugs he was actually afraid of.
So he drove through a Taco Bueno and then headed for Cordelia’s apartment. He’d been there once the year before, but he still got turned around. When he finally found the familiar building, he grabbed his three bags and hightailed it up the stairs.
He knocked on the door and gave her his brightest smile. “Hey Cor.”
“Xander! You said tomorrow!” She hugged him and brought him inside. She showed him where he could put his stuff, and together they ate the tacos, just talking to catch up, ignoring everything that had brought him to her.
Cordelia had the couch made up in a matter of minutes once they were ready to get to sleep, and Xander thanked her with a small smile.
“It’s not a problem. I mean, if I were in the same sitch I’d expect you to do at least this much for me.”
“Of course, Cordy,” Xander laughed, sitting down on his makeshift bed.
“Anything else you need?”
“I think I’m okay for now. You’re working tomorrow?”
“I can take off if you want.”
“No, go in. We can hang out in the evening, okay?”
“Sure. What did your job say about leaving so suddenly?”
Xander blinked. “I forgot to call. I mean, I haven’t been in for a few days, but… I guess if I’ve still got a job I could ask for a referral somewhere over here.”
“You figure that out in the morning. For now, get some sleep. You look like you could use it.”
Xander smiled a little and nodded. “Yes ma’am!”
“Now that’s what I like to hear from a man!” Xander watched Cordelia make her way to the bedroom, then laid down and eventually fell asleep.
~
Waking up was an interesting experience. At first, he forgot where he was. When he recalled, he flopped back down onto the pillows he had jerked up from. What surprised him next was a tray with cereal and juice on it floating onto the low coffee table. Then he remembered Cordelia’s apartment was haunted by a ghost. He desperately wracked his mind for the name, but unable to draw it up, he merely smiled and mumbled, “Thanks.”
The sun was up, and according to the clock on the wall, it was mid-afternoon. Xander was surprised to have slept so late, but considering he’d gotten very little sleep after the…breakup, he it wasn’t as surprising as it might have been. Finishing his breakfast, he located the phone and called work.
After a long, one-sided shouting match, Xander managed to get in that he’d been having a personal emergency and had forgotten to call. A bit more lecturing, but less yelling, and then Xander told his boss that he wouldn’t be coming back to work and was actually already in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, the company didn’t have any LA branches and he didn’t know anyone that would take a competitor’s word on a potential worker. Xander thanked him for thinking of it anyway, and then swore for a while after hanging up. When Cordelia came home, he was scanning the paper for want ads.
Cordy watched him for a moment before smiling to her ghost-mate and thanked him for bringing her a glass of water. “Did you call work?”
“Yeah.”
“And what’d they say?”
“That they’re terribly sorry but there’s no one here to transfer me to and contractors are extremely competitive and don’t like to accept workers from other companies for, I assume, fear of getting bad work.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Thus, I’m looking through the newspaper.”
“Mm.” Xander glanced up at her, but Cordelia was busily drinking her water. Shrugging, Xander went back to the paper. “Anything come up yet?”
“Nada. At least, nothing that I could manage to sustain myself with. Nothing I’ve ever been good at before.”
Cordelia came over to sit across from him, setting a glass of water down for her guest. “Well, I was just saying to Angel today that we could really use some more help around the hotel.”
Xander looked up. “Really? Cordy, I don’t know. I mean, Deadboy and I haven’t gotten along well in the past, and as much as I’m ready to bury the hatchet, he doesn’t really seem like the… hatchet-burying type sometimes.”
“Well, it was a thought. And you’d be surprised.”
“What kind of help?”
“Huh? Oh, another pair of hands, you know. Someone more to go out to kill stuff, somebody to answer the phone if I want a day off for once. More eyes on the texts, that kind of stuff.”
“How many of you are there already?” Xander asked, taking a drink.
“Well, Angel, Wes, and Gunn usually handle the monsters, Lorne is kind of our go-to for information, I answer phones, set up appointments, and get migraine-inducing visions. Wes and Angel can read all the demonic texts, and Wes covers the magic-stuff. Fred’s still coming into her own and finding her place, but she’s not bad at the books, either. Just in a different way.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t ‘oh’ me,” Cordelia teased.
“Are you the only girl there?”
“No, Fred’s there.”
“…But Fred is a boy’s name.”
“Short for Winifred,” Cordy said with a light kick to his shins.
“Of course. How silly of me.” Xander lifted his water glass.
“Right. Anyway, Hannah is really where Fred seems to be shining when she ventures out to join the populace.”
“Hannah?”
“Angel’s daughter.” Xander choked on the water, collapsing into a coughing fit. “Xander? Xander!” Cordelia reached over to smack him a few times, shaking her head. “What was that about?”
“Angel’s got a daughter?!”
“Well, yeah. You didn’t know that?”
“No! No, I didn’t! When did that happen?”
“She… Well, no, I guess you wouldn’t know, huh?”
“Cordy, how often am I out here? Practically never!”
“I know, I just… I guess I thought Buffy would’ve grown up a bit in the last three years.”
“Huh?”
“Hannah is Buffy’s. That ‘moment of perfect happiness’ produced a daughter. As far as anyone can figure, it has to do with Buffy being the Slayer or something. I guess normally they’re infertile and vamps are sterile but when you mix them…” She rolled her eyes. “But whatever.”
“Buffy hid that she was pregnant for that long? And hid the baby until she could send it off with Angel after graduation? I don’t… How did we not notice?”
“I don’t know. I felt just as bad when I found out, but…” She shrugged. “Nothing to be done now.”
Xander sat back, wondering how Spike would feel if he knew that his precious Buffy had had Angel’s baby. Then it struck him that Buffy could have Spike’s babies. That she wouldn’t hide that like she had Angel’s. That…they would raise them together like a family while Angel was stuck a single father, struggling to protect a little girl from the gruesome life he lead, and-
Xander bolted for the bathroom. Cordelia was sitting at the table for a few moments longer before following, wondering what was up.
“Xander?” she called. Her only answer was the sound of him retching. She hurried to the bathroom and knelt beside him, stroking back his hair. “You okay? What happened?”
Xander shrugged and heaved again. He’d gotten so angry at the thoughts of Buffy abandoning her child the way she had, of her then rejoicing in having more. The thought of her having them with the man that he had loved. That he still loved, whose children he would give everything to have. The anger to sorrow to anger to grief and turned his stomach violently. But he couldn’t share that with Cordy, he just couldn’t.
He didn’t want her to think he was weak or pining over something that was gone.
But her hand on his back felt good.
~
During dinner, Xander asked if Cordelia was serious about the potential job at Angel Investigations.
“Totally! And I’m sure Angel could give you a room in the hotel. Fred lives there, and so do Angel and Hannah. We all crash there if it gets too late or we’re too exhausted to go home. You guys just have to play nice a bit.”
“Well, is it paying? I mean, just because I have a roof doesn’t mean I’m eating.”
“Xander, if you’re ever not getting enough, just ask somebody to share. It happens. Angel’s got enough to keep us from starving and in apartments, so don’t worry too much.”
“Okay, just… Get him used to the idea of someone else around, first. Let him know you’ve got a friend. If you just spring him with ‘Xander wants a job’ I don’t think I’ll get it.”
“If you’re sure. Honestly, I could probably just bring you in with me and put you to work. That’s how I got the job. I just created my own position.” Xander laughed. “I’m serious!”
“I know. I believe you. It’s just funny.”