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It was very late on Saturday night - not so early Sunday morning, actually - when the Scoobies said their goodbyes. They had gone Bronzing for most of the evening, but their light post-party patrol had turned into a major vampire offensive when they came across a very excitable nest in Sunnyrest. The sky was turning from black to indigo as they brushed the remains of the vamps from their clothes and parted for their respective homes.
"Oy, Harris!" Spike called after Xander.
Speaking of offensive vampires, Xander thought and kept walking. They hadn't spoken more than two words since that kiss and had never been alone together, and Xander hoped to keep it that way. With the way that Spike had been glancing at him with speculation in his eyes, Xander knew nothing good could from from spending time with him. It would lead only to humiliation and possibly an urgent need to leave the country.
"Did you lose your boy scout compass? Your house is the other way." Spike's gait looked like a leisurely saunter, but he drew up beside Xander almost immediately.
"Thanks, Spike. I've only lived here all my life. Don't know how I ever survived without you."
"Too right."
"Why were you here again? Wasn't there something about hating us all?"
Spike shrugged.
"I was bored."
"Have you thought about getting some actual friends?"
"I'm too busy watching out for you lot. And you're still going in the wrong bloody direction."
"I'm sorry, did you want to walk this way by yourself?" Xander asked. He stopped and crossed his arms. He definitely did not think about how good Spike looked in the glow of the streetlamp. "You go on ahead. I'll wait five minutes so you can get out of sight."
Spike rolled his eyes.
"If you're not going home to tuck yourself in bed like a good little Scooby, where are you off to?"
What was the point of lying? Spike would follow him anyway, so it was easier just to tell him the truth and get it over with.
"I'm going to the Quik-E-Mart to pick up the paper."
There. That had surprised Spike.
"The newspaper?"
"No. Wrapping paper. Of course I'm getting the newspaper."
"Didn't know you read."
"I'm full of surprises," Xander said and flinched as Spike smirked. Amazingly enough, for once the vampire didn't take the easy shot.
"It's three thirty in the bloody morning. Why not get it when the sun's out and the monsters aren't?"
Xander glared at him.
"Don't think that isn't looking like a really appealing idea right about now."
"But you're still going?" Spike asked.
"Yep. 'Night." Xander stepped around Spike and headed off down the sidewalk. Because having to deal with a dozen angry vampires wasn't enough punishment for one evening, Spike followed him.
"If I were as rude as you, I might point out that your crypt is the other direction," Xander said.
"Yeah, but you're going this way."
"Don't tell me that you're dying for my company. You've made your feelings more than clear."
"Maybe I want a repeat of the other night," Spike said.
Xander's stomach lurched. A repeat? Another kiss?
"You have got to be kidding me," he said. He was kidding, right? Because Xander sure wasn't gay, and Spike had been with Dru and Harmony so he wasn't gay either, so why would there be more kissing? Just because it had been mind-numbingly good didn't mean that it should happen again. And it's not like he had played that kiss over in his mind a hundred times in the past two weeks or anything. Nope. Definitely not.
Spike glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Can't help myself."
Mocking me, Xander thought quickly. Can't help mocking me.
"So why are you following me, fangless?" he asked. "Can't get any of the girl vamps to talk to you now that you can't take them out to dinner?"
"Could use some cigarettes," Spike said blandly. "'Sides, if you get eaten when I'm around the Slayer'll bust down my door and break the hinges, and I won't have anyone to fix 'em."
"God forbid the world loses my skills as a handyman."
"They'd be more of a loss than your skills as a fighter."
"Hey! First of all, did I ask for your opinion? Secondly, I staked two vamps tonight and nearly got a third."
"You're enthusiastic, I'll grant you, but you nearly got Red killed when you backed into her while you were fleeing from that third one. If I hadn't been there she would have been dinner," Spike said.
"Buffy would've saved her," Xander said, stung. "And I wasn't fleeing."
"Fine. Strategically moving your forces backwards at a dead run. And the Slayer was halfway across the cemetery. Red would've kicked it, and you'd be going to the morgue instead of the twenty-four hour market."
"And that's a pleasant thought. Thanks a lot."
Spike shrugged.
"Just sayin'."
"Great. Now try just not saying."
Spike slouched alongside him in silence for approximately thirty-six seconds before he spoke again. Not that Xander was counting.
"So why are you getting the paper?" Spike asked. "Is there a color pull-out on shovels this week?"
"I like to read it. I pick it up every Saturday night after patrol."
"You do know that they'll deliver it to your door for cheaper than what you pay at the market. I've heard the adverts on the radio."
"I enjoy the walk."
"Have you been hit on the head one too many times? This is Sunnydale. You know, home of the Hellmouth, vacation home to vampires and demons? Why tempt fate and a whole mess of hungry beasties by wandering around at night?"
"Because by the time I get up on Sundays most everywhere is sold out of the paper and I have to drive across town to get it."
"So?"
"I like my walk."
Spike snorted.
"You know, when they invented the automobile people were thrilled to have it because they didn't have to take a sodding horse everywhere or, god forbid, walk on your own two feet. It was a miraculous invention, and they keep improving on it. I mean, have you seen the six-CD changers? Bloody brilliant. But, you? You want to walk."
Xander shrugged.
"Yep."
They had arrived at the Quik-E-Mart, and Spike sauntered through the door first. Xander ignored him and walked to the back to pour a cup of coffee before he picked up a paper and brought them both to the counter.
"Hey, Doug," he said. He dug exactly $1.74 in dimes, nickels, and pennies out of his pocket and slid them onto the counter.
"Thanks," said Doug. He sorted them into the drawer of the cash register without counting them.
"No wonder you sounded like Marley tonight," Spike said, coming up behind Xander. "Pack of Marlboros."
"I sounded like a dead reggae artist?" Xander asked.
Spike gave Doug a five dollar bill and tucked the cigarettes in his pocket.
"Marley the ghost," Spike said. "Dickens? A Christmas Carol?"
"Is that the guy that Statler played? Or was it Waldorf?"
"And you were surprised I didn't think you read," Spike said. He pocketed his change. "Ready to go?"
"Go where? I'm heading home."
"And I'm going with you."
"Wh-why?" Xander's mind jumped inexplicably to that kiss, and he could feel his heart pounding.
"You could still get eaten, and then I'm left with a pissed off Slayer and a pesky broken door. You really ought to teach her how to use a doorknob."
"I walk home alone every night. You don't need to come with me." With a nod to Doug, he walked outside. Spike, of course, followed.
"Right. And if a vampire attacked you now, what would you do? Throw your coffee on him and hit him on the nose with the rolled up newspaper?"
"I'll have you know this coffee is very hot."
Spike snorted and lit a cigarette.
"And the paper's made up of bits of wood, but I doubt either would do the trick," he said.
"Well, as you pointed out, it's not like it would be a huge loss if I were gone."
"That's not what I said."
"Oh, no, that's right. My handyman skills would be missed. If I promise to leave you my tools in my will, will you go away?"
"You're the one who wanted to get the paper in the middle of the night. If you had enough sense to get it in the daylight I wouldn't be here," Spike said and took a long drag on his cigarette.
"I'll keep that in mind for next week. It might be worth the drive."
"Good. I'd hate to have to play bodyguard again."
"Nobody asked you to do it in the first place," said Xander.
"What can I say? I'm a nice guy."
"I thought you said you were evil."
"That too. Depends on my mood," Spike said.
It was that moodiness that worried Xander, because as much as he was enjoying their easy banter at the moment he was terrified that Spike would soon tire of it and move onto something more destructive, like, say, taunting him about the kiss. There was no way that he would be able to argue that he hadn't been aroused, so he just desperately wanted to avoid the entire topic.
He picked up the pace, walking faster than he felt comfortable holding a cup of scalding coffee so that he could get home that much more quickly. The sooner he was out of Spike's company then the sooner he could relax. He could have a nice, long sleep entirely free of dreams of a pale, sexy vampire in black leather, wake up whenever he felt like it, nuke the coffee, read the paper, and enjoy a lazy Sunday on his own. Just what he wanted.
Happily for Xander's fraying nerves, they walked in silence the rest of the way, though Spike smoked three cigarettes during the short trip.
What - is causing lung cancer his new way to kill people? Xander wondered. No wonder he always needs more money. How many packs a day does he smoke?
When they got to the basement door, Xander tucked the paper under one arm and fumbled for his keys.
"Here. Don't strain yourself." Spike took the coffee from him.
"Don't spit in it," Xander said and dug the keys out of his pocket. He unlatched the door and held his hand out for the coffee.
"So can I come in?" Spike asked. He looked odd to Xander's eyes. Nervous. Almost tentative. It reminded him of the night that Spike had set the stage for dinner, and he snatched the cup from the vampire's hand. The hot coffee splashed out of the ineffective non-spill lid, and he gritted his teeth at the pain as he rushed to set it down on his table.
"You've got electricity and cable at your crypt, Spike. What could you possible want from here?" Xander asked, turning on the sink and running his hand under cold water.
"Maybe I feel like a chat."
"Yeah, 'cause those always go so well. As much as I enjoy the insults and the humiliation, I'm going to have to decline."
"I don't know. Our little encounters always get my blood pumping. How 'bout yours?"
"You are - and I say this with intimate knowledge of what's flowing through your veins - a pig, Spike," Xander said.
"Not by choice."
"Yeah, 'cause if you -"
"You hurt yourself," Spike said from right behind him. Xander jumped at the proximity and jumped again when Spike took hold of his wrist and tilted his hand to get a better look.
"I'm fine, and if you try some crazy story about vampire spit having healing powers I'm going to try my hot coffee as vampire repellant theory." Spike's touch was making him more jittery than he was after eating an entire pound bag of M&Ms, and he drew in a shaky breath as he shut off the water.
"Now would I really say something like that?"
"Yeah, you would."
Spike paused for a moment and then grinned.
"Yeah, I would."
Xander began to grin back but was distracted by Spike smoothing his fingers over the slightly-reddened skin of Xander's hand.
"Does that hurt?"
Xander shivered at the touch and shook his head.
Think of something else. Baseball. Batman comics. Giles. Principal Snyder. Principal Snyder after he was eaten. Anything but Spike stroking my hand, because he'll smell me again and he'll say something and then I'll have to leave town and change my name to Jorge. He watched Spike draw in a deep breath through his nostrils, and his panic rose. Jorge Harris? No, that sounds dumb, and it'd be too easy to trace. I'll need a different last name. Something tough. How about Schwarzenegger? Or Van Dam? Jorge Van Dam?
"You should be more careful," Spike said and released Xander's wrist. "Near-misses at the cemetery and now coffee burns."
"Yeah," Xander said, his voice high and tight. "Well, I guess you'll be going now that I'm all safe and sound. Don't let me keep you. Have a good night."
"Thought I might stay for a bit. Enjoy the atmosphere. Think of old times."
"You hated it here. I tied you up."
"Those thoughts aren't necessarily related," Spike said. The corner of his mouth twitched in the ghost of a smirk.
Xander backed away quickly and put the table between them.
"Look, I get that you're bored because you've had to go cold turkey on the eviscerating, but I'm tired and apparently I nearly lost one of my best friends to my own blundering, so can we just skip past the mocking me part of the evening and go straight to you wandering off with some cool quip designed to make me feel even stupider than usual?"
Spike regarded him gravely from across the table.
"I wasn't planning on mocking you," he said.
"Okay, then embarrassing, taunting, annoying, or whatever you want to call it."
"I had something else in mind," Spike said quietly. He approached carefully, and Xander stood his ground. It's not like there was anywhere to run, and the sooner Spike was begun the sooner he would be done and the sooner Xander could get on with his regularly-scheduled Sunday.
"Uh, well, I'd kind of like veto power," he said as Spike got closer.
"You know, Xander, as much as I enjoy talking with you, sometimes it's better when you're quiet."
Tilting his head and looking unnaturally serious, Spike brought up a hand to frame Xander's chin. Then, achingly slowly, he moved in. He stopped a few inches from Xander's face and just stared into his eyes. They looked at each other for an endless moment, not moving, Xander scarcely breathing, simply sinking into each other's depths. Spike's blue eyes mesmerized him, and he was surprised to see them for once without guile, without anger, and with only a touch of his usual bitterness.
"What are you doing?" Xander asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"Looking inside you."
Xander swallowed hastily.
"See? I knew you missed the eviscerating."
Spike's eyes crinkled with unvoiced laughter.
"You know that's not what I mean, pet."
"Why?"
"Just trying to suss things out."
"So... what do you see?" Xander asked, still dazzled by those blue eyes.
"No strings." He sounded vaguely surprised.
"Yeah," Xander murmured. "You too?"
Spike nodded. His hand slid away from Xander's chin to tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck, and that movement was enough to bring them together. This kiss was sweet, a soft rubbing of lips and tongues. Xander moaned as he thrust into Spike's mouth, and he wrapped an arm around the vampire's shoulders, pulling him in closer.
Their desire rose, and their kisses became more passionate. Xander got lost in the sensation of their bodies moving against each other, and some time later he found himself leaning against the wall with Spike plastered to him. Both had lost their jackets, and one of his hands seemed to have slid beneath Spike's jeans to rest over the swell of his buttock. Their erections were heavy against each other through their clothes, and both of them were panting.
"So can I stay?" Spike asked, his eyes dazed as he looked up at Xander.
"I... I..."
"I can't hurt you, Xander. I can't make you do anything. You know that. But I've been thinking about you."
Xander licked his lips and tasted Spike on them. He knew that this was going to be a mistake, that Spike was still evil, and that he would probably try to use this new bit of information against him, but he could see the raw desire in Spike's eyes, and he knew that he had put it there. It was a heady thought, and his blood rushed with the feeling of power.
"Only if I can have the comics first in the morning," he said.
Spike laughed. It was probably the first true smile that Xander had ever seen on his face, and he was absolutely certain that he had made the right decision. Any future blackmail would be worth that smile.
"Then I want half of the coffee," Spike said, sliding a hand up Xander's chest under his shirt.
Xander shuddered at the touch and rode the wave of hormones rushing through him.
"Fine, but the remote is still mine." He dipped his head to kiss Spike and felt the vampire tremble beneath his hands.
"We'll negotiate that point later," Spike said huskily when Xander came up for air.
He seemed to have more to say, but Xander knew now how to shut him up. He kissed him again and ran his hands up Spike's back under his shirt. The vampire groaned and pulled him closer, and Xander smiled against his lips.
Oh, yes, I'll definitely have control of the remote.