Almost like home, chapter five
Fandom: Buffyverse
Pairing: Spander
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Spike and Xander try to escape
Spike leaned heavily on Xander as the young man released him from his shackles. He sighed in relief. “Thank you.” “You can thank me later,” Xander said, dragging Spike upright. “First you get to save my life.”
Walking out of there was definitely not an option. As soon as Xander came out, Spike wandering a little distance behind him, the gathered workers turned to stare at their ally-turned-foe. Construction stopped instantly. “Oh boy,” he sighed. “Oh boy oh boy oh boy.” A very dangerous looking demon came his way and he squeaked, jumping up to get behind Spike. He shoved him in the demon’s general direction. “You can start with the saving now.” Spike growled as he felt the pain course through his body. “Watch it!” He looked at the young man holding on to his leather duster. Xander seemed absolutely terrified. He was sore, but he could take on a few these, couldn’t he? And wasn’t Buffy supposed to get here with her fan club sometime soon? He saw a flash of the Slayer as she rushed in front of him, taking out the first demon with a high kick to the chest. “Speak of the devil,” Spike murmured. Then he collapsed.
“Heh, parallel universe.” Willow walked in to find Xander cleaning Spike’s wounds as best he could. “What?” “Oh well, it’s just, y’know, Spike taking care of you and now you taking care of him. It’s kinda, y’know, inversed.” She replied nervously. Xander lifted an eyebrow. “You mean he was telling the truth? He took care of me?” The witch nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah, couldn’t keep him away from you if we tried. It was only when he left to get some food for himself that you went all wandering and stuff. And then he did the whole heroic ‘save Xander’ thing, which was kinda cool, too.” She was babbling, looking at the demon lying unconsciously on the bed. “Since when are you on the Spike Cheerleading Squad?” Xander grumbled, surprised that his best friend was defending this pathetic excuse for a vampire. She shrugged. “If it hadn’t been for him, you would still be building that temple. And Buffy would still be all ‘woe is me’… He’s done some good stuff lately, being all erm… souled and all.”
Willow almost slapped herself. She mentally reminded herself that she was talking to Xander and that her friend didn’t like Spike one bit. Plus, she talked too much. Plus, Spike wasn’t all that nice to begin with. Sure, he took care of Xander while he was sick. But he also did a lot of nasty stuff when he was Mr. Big Bad. She looked at her friend and was surprised to see him staring at Spike with a pensive look on his face. “Penny for your thoughts?,” she tried. Xander almost jumped off the bed. “Oh, no, nothing really. Shouldn’t you be getting home to Tara? I thought she was expecting you at six?” He looked at his watch for added drama. “It’s like five fifty five right now…”
Xander watched Willow shoot out the door. Tara wouldn’t like it if she was late for their romantic two-year anniversary dinner. He smiled, thinking of the scolding look Willow would receive from her lover for the dinner getting cold. The young man turned his attention back to the vampire lying on his bed. Spike had taken a good beating, his legs were heavily bruised - at least one of them was probably broken-, his ribs were black ‘n’ blue and his face had a big black bulge surrounding his left eye. Various other cuts and bruises covered his body. The building crew hadn’t been very friendly towards the vampire.
Xander felt his hand unconsciously reaching for the clear side of Spike’s face. He stopped himself mid-action. So long ago, he had felt such great things for this man. That is, until he decided to boink Buffy for a while. He knew they’d stopped that a long time ago, but somehow it had turned him off Spike entirely. Now, staring at him, this beautiful creature, wounded on his bed, he felt old emotions rise again. The desire to reach out became unbearable and he slowly ran his hand down Spike’s face. So rough and yet so delicate. He felt the vampire stir and quickly withdrew his hand. He shot off the bed and headed for the kitchen, pretending to be very busy opening and closing cupboards.
Spike slowly opened his eyes. Or well, eye, since somehow his left eye wouldn’t budge. He tried to touch it and hissed as he felt the bulge. “Bloody hell,” he swore. He tried to get up and sank back down immediately. “Bloody hell!” he repeated. “Oh you’re awake,” Xander casually remarked. “Listen, I need to get some stuff from the store. You’ll be fine on your own, right?” “What?,” Spike frowned, processing Xander’s words. “Oh, yeah. Yeah fine.” He rubbed a hand over his forehead, hoping to make the throbbing stop. Xander grabbed his coat. “Good. There’s some blood warming up in the microwave for you. Be back in an hour.”
Spike watched the brown-haired man run out the door and placed his hand on the spot on his face that had just felt Xander’s warm touch. How exactly was he to reach his food in this state?
“Oh man…” Xander wandered the streets aimlessly, wondering how much the vampire had sensed when he had touched him. He shouldn’t have done that! He cursed under his breath. Why had he done that?! The answer of course, was very simple. All these emotions he had felt years ago had never really gone away. And to see Spike lying there, helpless and hurt, had gotten the better of him. He just had to touch him, had to make him feel better. “Damned.” He would have to go to a store eventually, but for now, he just wanted to walk and feel the wind on his face, blowing out the cobwebs in his head. He could remember all the nights he’d spent online, chatting on forums about having a vampire lover, about how different it was and how much it turned him on. Well, not any vampire, he found most of them repulsive. But Spike got under his skin. That sleek, muscular body, the low rumbling voice, hell, even the London accent got Xander going. He actually got aroused just thinking about it. He chastised himself. He had to see reason again. Spike was NOT lover material. Never was, never would be. Besides, Spike liked girls, he’d been very clear about that with Buffy. And Xander, whatever else he had to offer, was definitely not a girl. He sighed, making himself accept the simple truth that Spike could never see him as anything else than Builder Boy and stepped into the store.
Spike rubbed his cheek again, staring at the ceiling. He felt the cold of his hand, but underneath that, he remembered the warmth of Xander. Builder Boy, he told himself angrily. He’s just bloody Builder Boy. He thought back of the three days spent at Xander’s bedside. Spike had taken his time to observe the boy. Young man. Whatever he was now. Working construction had pumped up his body, the muscles toned and tight. He’d always had a weak spot for muscular men. Especially if they had dark features, like Xander. If he wasn’t such an idiot, he’d be half attractive. But fact remained, he was a huge bloody idiot. And crazy about Buffy, he added. He’d seen the angry glances thrown his way when he was shagging the Slayer. Spike had never seen Xander so angry. Yeah, angry and… disappointed, somehow. Spike frowned. Had Xander been angry about him shagging the Slayer or about something else? It WAS his hand on his face minutes ago. So maybe he had misinterpreted the signs back then. He shook his head. No, that didn’t sound right. Xander hated his guts for everything he represented. He was a vampire, a demon, who had slept with his crush for several months. Who had hurt his friends and the only vampire he had ever accepted in his presence. He smiled sadly. Ironic how that vamp had been shagging the Slayer, too. Sleep was washing over his body, telling him it needed some more rest before he would fully recover. He closed his eyes, remembering Xander sleeping, his chest bare, his breath calm. He smiled again, happily this time, and tumbled into a quiet sleep.