In This Together

by RubyWisp

Part Three

Later, after much ice cream and laughter, Xander drove Willow home. They got out of the car and Willow started to walk in the direction of her dorm, but Xander stopped her. "Willow, wait a minute."

Willow stopped and came back to where he stood leaning against the car. "What...is something wrong, Xander?" When he didn't answer right away, she looked at him worriedly. "What are you not telling me? Her eyes got round and big. "Oh! You're going to tell me right now, aren't you? Whatever the - the thing is that you're not telling me. OK - shutting up now. Ready to hear the thing." She took a breath. "It's not a bad thing, is it?"

Xander grinned. "Yeah, there's a thing, Will. Not a bad thing, just a thing." He took one of Willow's hands, held it between his own. He studied it as though he'd find the words he needed to say written there, the way he'd relied on tiny crib notes written on his hands to help himself through countless math tests. Math tests she'd worked hard to prepare him for, even though it never helped as much as Willow hoped it would.

Xander suddenly wished he'd worked harder - at math, at history, at computer science. He loved her so much, this tiny redheaded tornado he'd called his best friend almost since he could remember. He wished there was something, anything he could leave with her to let her know how much she'd meant to him, how much she'd helped him through the years. Xander thought that maybe if he'd done better in school, then Willow would somehow understand how important she'd always been to him.

((Well, that's stupid.))

((Jeez, not you again. Go away.))

Xander lifted Willow's hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. "I love you Will - you know that, right?"

Willow looked at Xander fondly and smiled. "Of course." Her expression changed, becoming first confused and then wary as she saw the intensity in Xander's eyes. "Um, yeah. Hey - haven't we been down this road before?" She pulled her hand out of Xander's grasp. "I seem to remember lots of potholes. I'm thinking - driving that way again? Bad."

Xander laughed, shaking his head and holding his hands up in front of him. "No, Will - not like that." An image of Spike - above him, inside him, fucking him hard - flashed through his mind. He swallowed heavily and continued, "Not now. Promise."

Willow nodded, clearly relieved. "OK. Just checking. One of those lessons better learned the first time, you know?"

"Yeah," Xander said. "Listen, Willow - about the thing." He thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans.

"Oh yeah - the thing. What's up?" Willow watched him carefully. Still a little worried, knowing Xander well enough to know that whatever the thing was, it wasn't nothing.

"I - I missed work today. Drank too much last night, woke up late." ((Got fucked silly by Spike.)) He held up one hand when she started to ask a question. "I'm fine. I told you. Really. It's just - well, I was thinking about having to go to the site tomorrow to try to explain why I didn't show up or even call today. I can't
exactly explain that my undead roommate unplugged the phone so he could sleep," he watched Willow smile "and - I got this idea." Xander put his hand back in his pocket, slightly disgusted with himself. He didn't want to lie - especially not to Willow, but Xander knew he couldn't tell her the truth either.

"Idea?" she asked, forehead crinkling. "About explaining why you missed work?"

Xander shook his head. "No. About quitting my job."

"Quitting?" Now Willow was worried for real. "Why would you quit? You love that job! I *knew* something was wrong - talk to me, Xander."

"No - really, nothing's wrong." Xander reached out and held Willow's hand again. "I just need some time. Away from Sunnydale." Xander laced his fingers through hers, enjoying the feel of Willow's hand in his. Willow didn't pull away this time. "I need a break. I have enough money saved up that I could take some time off, maybe travel a little." He grinned crookedly. "Maybe I'll even get further than Oxnard this time. I have a better car now."

Willow laughed a little at that and then asked, "Is this about Anya?"

Xander was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Not really. But yes. And no." He laughed. "It's all of it and none of it, Wills. I just need a little time away, OK?" He kissed her hand again, teasing, his eyes twinkling.

Willow smiled a little half-smile at Xander's attempt to charm her. He'd always be her best friend, but he no longer had the ability to make her knees weak and her insides melt. "Sure. But why the big deal?"

Xander shrugged. "I didn't want to leave without telling you, that's all."

"You're leaving that soon?" Willow asked, looking worried again.

"Willow, stop worrying," Xander said, brushing his free hand across her forehead, smoothing away her frown. "I know if I try to stay around for a couple of days and say goodbye to everybody I'll end up not going at all. The end of the world will come, Dawn will need a ride somewhere, Giles will finally ask me to fix the bookcases in the back room at the Magic Box." They both grinned and Xander shrugged again. "Something will happen or I'll feel bad about quitting and I'll end up never going. This way's best I think."

Willow looked doubtful, but nodded. "I guess. You're probably right. But I don't like it."

"I know - I'm sorry. But trust me - it's for the best." Xander pulled Willow into a tight hug. "I do love you, Willow. I always have," he said, and kissed her cheek.

Willow kissed him back then said, "Stop with the serious. You sound like you're leaving forever. It's just for a little while."

Xander looked at Willow tenderly. His best friend. The girl whose Barbies he'd killed, whose crayons he'd broken. The girl who knew all his deep dark secrets - like his secret adoration for Julia Roberts movies - and loved him anyway. The girl he'd shared everything with - until now.

"Yeah," he lied, part of him dying. "Just for a little while."

Xander kissed Willow one last time. "I need to go - I have stuff to do, and it's late. We probably shouldn't be standing out here like this."

Willow nodded. "OK. Be safe, Xander - be sure and call me. I want to hear about all the trouble you get in while you're gone." She smiled and hugged him once more. "Send me postcards too - I'll hang 'em on my wall."

"Phone calls, postcards - got it." Xander took his car keys out of his pocket. "'Night Willow," he said as he got into the car.

Willow said goodnight and waved before walking to her dorm.

Xander sat in the car for a long time after Willow went inside, staring at nothing.

---

By the time Xander got back to the apartment, Spike was already there, lying on the couch watching TV. He'd undressed again and was wearing only his jeans, his bare feet propped up on the arm of the sofa.

((That reminds me...))

"How'd you get dressed so fast earlier? All your stuff was in my room," Xander asked as he closed and locked the door behind him.

Spike looked over the arm of the sofa at Xander and smirked. "Vampire speed 'n quiet's good for more'n just fightin', pet. Get the witch home all right?"

"No problems," Xander said. He set his keys down on the kitchen counter and then sat down on the recliner. "Spike, I want to ask you something."

"As long as it's not 'will you drink pig's blood for the rest of your life', sure." Spike cocked an eyebrow in Xander's direction. "S'not, is it?"

Xander shook his head. "I want to leave Sunnydale. Let's go somewhere. Can we?"

Spike swung his feet onto the floor and sat up straight. "You're full o' surprises, no doubt," he said. "Why?"

"Why am I full of surprises or why do I want to leave?" Xander asked. He ducked when Spike threw a sofa pillow at him. "I don't want to stay here like this. The way things are with us now."

"What? You ashamed of me? Don't want your friends to know 'bout us?" Spike threw his head back against the couch cushions and sighed. "I'm Xander's dirty little secret. I feel so sordid," he teased.

Xander laughed. "Shut up Spike, I'm serious."

Spike propped his feet up on the table in front of him. "I know." He grinned at Xander's frustrated look. "What's the trouble, then?"

Xander grabbed the pillow Spike had thrown at him and twisted it nervously in his hands. "Nothing yet. But there will be if we stay here in SunnyD, so I wanna go. I don't know where - haven't thought about it that much yet." He looked up at Spike. "But if we stay here, I think it's gonna be bad. I don't want that."

"You told Red?" Spike asked. ((No way he told the little witch.))

"Are you kidding? Was I gone long enough to have an 'I'm sleeping with Spike' talk with Willow?" Xander snorted. "I don't think so. I'd still be there three days from now, explaining."

"True." Spike nodded. "So where's the problem?" He watched as Xander stood up and began pacing. Spike sat up again. "C'mon pet, tell me."

Xander stopped for a moment and looked Spike in the eye. "I will. Promise to be quiet and let me finish?" He looked at Spike pleadingly. "I don't want to fight with you - that's not - " He sighed. "Just let me say this?"

Spike nodded once. "Have at it then."

Xander took a deep breath and plunged right in. "Living here in Sunnydale, with you unchipped, is not gonna work, Spike. I know better than to think you're gonna bag it for the rest of my life." He stopped when Spike raised one eyebrow at that, but Spike kept his word and stayed silent, so Xander continued.

"I'm not going to pretend that I'm OK with it, because I'm not and you know it. But I don't think there's anything I can do about it either." Xander resumed pacing but looked at Spike questioningly when he said this. Spike shook his head 'no' and Xander spoke again.

"Exactly. Which means we can't stay here." Spike opened his mouth, remembered he'd promised, and shut it again. Xander stopped pacing and looked at Spike earnestly. "I've known more people than I want to remember who've died in freak accidents. Looking back, most of 'em were probably vamp attacks. Mrs. Jenkins - nice little old lady - I used to mow her grass in the summer. Supposedly impaled her jugular with a barbecue fork when she tripped and fell in her backyard. Tommy, this little kid who lived across the street from me when I was nine, died in the field next to the elementary school one evening. They said it was a snakebite."

Xander rubbed his face with his hands tiredly. "Every time I hear about someone dying like that, I can't wonder if it was you, Spike. There's just - I can't live that way." He ran his hands through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. "It makes me a hypocrite, I know. But at least if we go somewhere else, somewhere big enough and far enough away that I don't know most of the people who live there..." Xander trailed off and sighed deeply, sitting down on the recliner again. "I don't know if it'll work or not. But I know that staying here won't."

He sat quietly for a moment before saying, "I'm done. Go ahead."

"You've really thought about it." Spike was surprised. He hadn't expected that from the boy. ((Man. A boy wouldn't have considered the implications like that.))

Xander nodded. "It was all I could think about the whole time Willow was here." He put his head in his hands. He missed Willow already and he hadn't even left yet. Hadn't gotten Spike to agree either, he remembered, and looked up again. "So what do you think? Are we leaving?"

Spike looked at Xander quietly for a few long moments. "You really want to leave."

"Yep." Xander hung his head. He felt very, very tired. It'd been a busy day and he was worn out.

Spike was about to ask why Xander was willing to leave Sunnydale rather than him, but when he noticed Xander's exhaustion, Spike decided it could wait. ((Not like it matters. He is. Good enough.)) He stood and pulled Xander up from the chair. "Let's go to bed, whelp. You're 'bout ready to drop."

Xander leaned against Spike, putting his arms around the blond's waist. He laid his head on Spike's shoulder tiredly. "You didn't answer me. Are we leaving? Let's go somewhere else. Please," he said, placing a soft kiss on Spike's shoulder.

Spike pushed Xander away and turned him in the direction of the bedroom. "We'll go. Tomorrow night if you want. But now we're goin' to sleep."

They undressed in silence, each man lost in his own thoughts. Spike got in bed first, followed quickly by Xander, who huddled himself almost in a ball under the blankets with his head on Spike's chest. Spike ran his fingers through Xander's hair idly, still thinking.

"Spike -" Xander slid one arm across the vampire's stomach as he spoke.

"Yeah?" Spike asked, twisting the curling ends of Xander's hair around his fingers.

Xander brought his hand up to Spike's nipple and brushed the flat of his hand lightly back and forth across it, making it harden. "Can we? I need..." He took a deep shuddering breath. "Sorry, this is still so
new."

Spike tugged gently on Xander's hair until Xander's face was tilted up toward his. He bent his head and sucked Xander's lower lip into his mouth. Xander moaned and moved until they were lying face-to-face. They kissed slowly, taking their time. Not needing to rush, just needing the connection, needing reassurance that in spite of the problems looming over them, they were still in this together.

When Xander started rubbing his body harder against Spike's, the vampire broke the kiss. He winked and pushed Xander onto his back as Xander protested the loss of contact. Slowly, Spike licked and nibbled a trail from Xander's mouth to his groin. He paused, and chuckled when Xander ground out, "Cock tease" between clenched teeth. In response, Spike pinned Xander's hips to the bed with his hands and swallowed Xander's erection in one swift move.

Xander's back arched tightly and he cried out at the sudden feel of Spike's mouth, cool and wet, wrapped around him. ((Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck... ohthat'ssogood)) Spike formed a tight seal around Xander's cock with his mouth and began sucking furiously, moving his head up and down. ((ohyeah...sonofabitch)) Xander thrashed his head wildly from side to side and pounded the bed with his fists. He couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Nothing existed except Spike's mouth on his cock, sucking; Spike's muscles working, working, working as he deep throated Xander and swallowed again and again. ((howthefuck...ohohohohoh...)) He tried to form the words to tell Spike he was about to cum, but he still couldn't think and so he shouted and came, muscles spasming as he shot his load down Spike's throat.

Xander lay still, sight and sound and functioning brain cells returning slowly to normal as Spike licked him clean and then moved to lie down next to him again. "You liked that, then?" Spike asked, grinning widely.

Xander nodded and tried to speak. "You..." then trailed off, too exhausted to talk.

"You can make it up to me tomorrow," Spike said. He turned Xander on his side, facing away, and pulled him close. Wrapping the blankets around both of them, he kissed the back of Xander's neck and said, "Sleep now. Shag later."

Xander was already asleep, a tiny smile on his face.

---

"It's tomorrow."

Spike opened his eyes to find Xander leaning over him, a huge smile plastered on his face. Spike couldn't stop himself, answering with one of his own, just as wide. Xander inhaled sharply and his eyes got big. "Wow. You should smile like that more often." He bent down and pressed his lips to Spike's, running his tongue along Spike's bottom lip.

Spike opened his mouth and briefly let Xander control the kiss, enjoying the feel of Xander's tongue swirling through his mouth. Xander sucked on Spike's tongue gently, until Spike grabbed him, flipping them over so that Spike was on top.

Xander stopped kissing him and laughed. "Me being on top lasted 15 whole seconds longer than I thought it would." He licked the hollow at the base of Spike's throat and sucked. ((Hmm...vampires probably can't get hickeys.)) He sucked harder. ((Doesn't mean I can't try.))

Spike closed his eyes, enjoying Xander's mouth on his neck and said, "You can be on top when you suck me off."

Xander stopped and looked up at Spike. "I can do that." ((Or at least I think I can.)) He swallowed and bit his bottom lip, his cock growing hard at the thought of Spike in his mouth, of making Spike moan and squirm and lose control. ((Oh yeah, *that* I can do.))

"Not now," Spike said, planting a kiss on Xander's chin. "I want to fuck you."

Xander swallowed again. He took a deep breath, feeling a tightening in his stomach at Spike's words. "That works too."

Spike laughed. "Thought you might say that." He leaned over the edge of the bed, grabbing the lotion left there from the day before. Spike put it on the bed next to them and kissed Xander deeply, rocking their bodies together.

Xander felt Spike's cock harden against his own and groaned deep in his throat. He wrapped one leg around Spike and tried to move them faster, not willing to wait. He wasn't in the mood for anything long or drawn out. Xander just wanted to be fucked, the faster and harder the better.

Spike chuckled. "Impatient little git. No appreciation..."

"Less talking. More shagging," Xander said, echoing Spike's words from the previous day. He thrust harder against Spike's hips and bent his head to bite one nipple sharply.

Spike laughed and reached for the lotion bottle. He squirted some into his hand and moved off Xander enough so that he could slide his hand between Xander's legs.

Xander closed his eyes and groaned when he felt Spike's hand on his ass. He held his breath for a moment when Spike eased a finger into him, breathing again only when Spike added a second. "Ohhhhhhhhh... damn." He grabbed the blankets in his fists and spread his legs wider.

Spike scissored his fingers a few times before adding a third and thrusting deep. Xander yelled and bucked, head lolled back, panting. Spike watched him hungrily. ((Never gonna get tired of seein' that.)) He fucked Xander with his hand, his cock growing impossibly harder as he watched Xander writhe senselessly on the bed. ((Gonna have this forever. Bloody hell.))

Unable to wait any longer, Spike pulled his fingers slowly from Xander's body. "Half a mo'," he said when Xander whimpered, and applied lotion liberally to his aching erection. Spike pushed Xander's knees up to his chest and slowly sank himself into Xander's body. ((So fuckin' tight and hot.))

Xander opened his eyes as Spike pulled out slowly before thrusting in again. "Spike. Just fuck me. Hard." He grinned at the lust that flared across Spike's face and grabbed his own cock and began pulling it. "C'mon Spike - do it already."

Spike's eyes narrowed. "You asked for it, boy." Spike pulled his cock out of Xander almost all the way and then slammed back into him hard.

Xander grunted. "S'better," he managed to say before the ability to speak deserted him. Xander moaned and twisted beneath Spike as he pumped his shaft faster and faster in time with Spike's thrusts. Xander saw lights explode behind his eyes every time Spike's cock hit his prostate. ((And that's a sensation I lived far too long without experiencing.)) When Xander felt Spike orgasm, felt the coolness of Spike's cum in his body, he lost control and came, moaning loudly.

Spike settled his weight on top of Xander and kissed him, slowly and sweetly. "There's somethin' to be said for impatience." He chuckled and pulled his now-soft cock out of Xander and rolled onto his back. " 'Course now we need a shower."

"That requires moving, right?" Xander felt like a giant puddle of goo. He lifted his head and looked down. ((OK, not so far off the mark. Maybe a shower's a good idea.)) "Shower it is." He sat up, wincing slightly at the soreness in his ass.

Spike chuckled. "Hard and fast still seem like a good idea, pet?" He got out of bed and picked up Xander's torn shirt from where it still lay on the floor. He wiped off his stomach and threw the shirt at Xander, who grimaced but wiped himself with it before he stood up.

Xander grabbed the pile of dirty laundry on his way out the door. "Grab all the trash off the table and throw it away, would you Spike?"

Grumbling as he picked up the empty beer bottles and broken glass from the nightstand, Spike muttered, "Cheeky bugger. Think a little shaggin' means you can boss me 'round, do you?"

Xander looked at Spike over his shoulder. As Spike threw the trash away he answered, "Worked, didn't it?" He winked and disappeared into the bathroom.

Spike cursed and chased after Xander, catching up to him as Xander dumped the dirty clothes in the hamper. Spike grabbed Xander and tickled him, only stopping when Xander was laughing so hard he was gasping for breath, tears streaming down his face. "Teach you to be a smartarse," Spike said when he finally let go.

"Why? You think I need lessons?" Xander asked with a grin. He yelped when Spike smacked him. "I'm guessing that means no." He leaned over and turned the water on, adjusting the temperature until the bathroom began to fill with steam. Stepping under the spray he looked at Spike. "Is this a solo performance or is the sticky vampire going to join me?"

"Dunno." Spike cast a long hungry look over Xander's naked body. "Solo performance sounds pretty good t'me." He grinned at Xander's blush and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed. "But let's say we make this one a duet." Spike pulled Xander close and kissed him, growling softly as Xander's hands slipped down Spike's back to cup his ass.

Xander kneaded Spike's backside as he trailed kisses down the blond man's throat, stopping occasionally to suck and bite on his way to Spike's chest. He bent his head and licked one pale nipple, flicking his tongue back and forth quickly, biting, and then licking again.

Spike groaned and tangled one hand in Xander's hair, reaching down between them with the other. He moved closer to Xander and took both their erections in his hands. Xander licked and sucked his way across Spike's chest to the other nipple and pulled Spike even closer to him as Spike started pumping their cocks. Surprisingly, it didn't take either man long to orgasm, Xander biting Spike's nipple hard enough to draw blood as he came.

"Sorry 'bout that," Xander said, wiping the few drops of blood away with his hand.

"Not a problem, luv." Spike kissed Xander lightly and pushed him out of the water stream. "Biting and blood? You forget - I like that sort of thing." Grinning, he grabbed the shampoo and started washing his hair.

Xander watched Spike for a moment, watched the water pour over the slim, muscular body. He just had to touch him again, so Xander grabbed the soap and started washing Spike's back. "I should help. Don't want to run out of hot water before we're finished."

"You're selfless, Xander. 'S what I like about you," Spike teased, rinsing his hair. He took his time about it, though, allowing Xander to wash the rest of him. When he was clean, Spike took the soap away from Xander and switched places with him. "Your turn," he said, and rubbed the soap over Xander's chest.

Half an hour and a more than a few kisses, licks, sucks and gropes later, they were clean, out of the bathroom, and dressed. They sat at the kitchen counter, Spike with a mug full of the much-despised animal blood, and Xander with a turkey sub, choosing the inconvenience of actually making a sandwich over the frustration of arguing again about what was 'real food' with Spike.

"Have you decided where you want to go first, pet?" Spike asked as he drank his meal. He took a handful of Cheetos from the bag and crumbled them into his mug. They were out of Weetabix.

Xander made a face at the Cheetos/pig's blood combination, but only said, "You're going to let me pick?"

Spike shrugged. "Sure." He picked up the mug and took a long drink. Setting it down again, he said, "I've been most everywhere I wanted to go. What do you want to see?"

"Cordelia." Xander glanced at Spike and took another bite from his sandwich. Around a mouthful of food he repeated, "I want to go see Cordelia."

If Spike needed to breathe, he would have choked. Cordelia meant L.A., which meant..."Don't wanna see Peaches, Xander. I've seen more'n enough o'him."

"I know. I don't want to see him either." Xander put his almost-finished sandwich down and looked at Spike with a serious expression on his face. "It's just that we're gonna go off to who-knows-where and be gone who-knows-how-long - and by time we come back this way, I may be...very different." He spread his hands out wide, pleading with Spike to understand. "I need to see her one more time."

"Sounds like ever so much fun," Spike muttered before taking his empty mug to the sink. "What're you gonna say? 'Hey, Princess - I'm off to see the world and gain eternal life, give us a kiss'?" He put the washed mug into the drainer and turned around. "I'd be dust faster'n I can say it."

Xander looked worried. "Is Angel gonna know?" He rubbed the spot on his chest where Spike had marked him. "About this? Will he be able to tell somehow?"

Spike nodded shortly. "Yeah." He went into the bedroom, re-emerging with a lit cigarette in his mouth. "An' he ain't gonna like it. Probably won't stake me for it, though." He took the cigarette from his mouth and gestured at Xander. "Finds out 'bout the rest, and I'm that Kansas song."

"'Dust In the Wind'," Xander said. "Very funny." He picked up his sandwich again and shrugged. "So we don't tell him about the rest. End of problem."

Spike tried a different tack. "Why's sayin' goodbye to the Prom Queen so important?" He took a drag on his cigarette. "I don't see you rushin' around tryin' to get all your goodbyes in before we leave this hellhole. Why the hell do we have to go to L.A.?"

"I said goodbye to Wills last night." He stood up and carried his empty plate to the sink. At Spike's look of disbelief, he said, "I did! I told her I needed a break from Sunnydale, needed to get out and see different places." He rinsed his plate clean and put it in the dishwasher. "As for everybody else - " Xander stopped and leaned against the counter for a moment, thinking.

"I don't want to talk to Buffy - the farther away she is from all of this, the better. She figures anything out, and you won't have a chance to worry about Angel's reaction." Xander picked up the Cheetos bag and rolled it closed. "I can't lie to Giles for shit - Anya either. So they're out." He put the snack bag in a cupboard and closed the door. "I wish I could say goodbye to Dawn, but then we're back to Buffy again, so no go there either. Which leaves Willow, and I've already said goodbye to her."

Xander thought briefly of Tara, but knew that his best friend would fill her in the next time they spoke. Xander liked Tara a lot, but he didn't know her well enough to justify hunting her down to say goodbye before what was supposed to be just a road trip. She was definitely high on his 'People I'll Miss' list, though.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck. He really didn't want to go to L.A. and deal with Angel, but he knew Xander wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed. ((Don't think he'll stake me for the claimin', 'specially if we explain how it came about.)) Spike smirked. ((Ponce'll probably feel guilty for startin' the whole
thing.)) He liked that. With a grin he told Xander, "L.A. it is then."

Laughing, Xander said, "You're just hoping he'll feel bad about offering me to you in the first place." He laughed harder when Spike looked surprised. "C'mon Spike - you're so transparent when it comes to Angel! Like I couldn't figure it out."

Spike shrugged and concentrated on smoking his cigarette. He was embarrassed at being so easy to read, but he couldn't deny that tormenting Angel was his only reason for agreeing to go to L.A.

Xander walked over and kissed him on the forehead, carefully avoiding the cigarette in Spike's mouth. "It's all right - the idea of making Angel feel a little guilt for that night appeals to me too." Spike raised one eyebrow questioningly and Xander explained, "He didn't tell me what he was gonna do when he dragged me in there under his arm. Scared the fuck outta me."

Spike snickered at that and stubbed his cigarette out in the sink. "I remember. You smelled lovely - all confusion and fear and just the tiniest bit of arousal. Delicious." He ran the cigarette butt under water before taking it to the trashcan and throwing it away.

"Arousal?" Xander squeaked. "You're confusing me with some other helpless captive Angel tried to give you, Bleach Boy." He shook his head emphatically. "Turned on, I was not."

Spike smirked and walked back to Xander. He pressed himself against Xander's body and kissed Xander hard and passionately. He heard Xander's heart rate speed up and his breathing catch as he reacted to Spike's tongue in his mouth, Spike's hands on his body, Spike's hips grinding against him.

Spike bit Xander's bottom lip softly. "Sure, Xan. I believe you. None o' this has anything to do with wantin' me." He brushed his hips against Xander's half-hard cock. "I understand."

Xander grinned and shoved Spike away. "Oh, shut up." He went into the living room and picked up the phone. "I've got some calls to make before we can go. Still want to leave tonight?"

Spike shrugged. "Good a time as any. I'll pack," he said, and left the room.

Xander made several phone calls; to his boss, his landlord, the utility company. He told them each whatever version of a 'family emergency out of state' story he thought they'd be most likely to believe. He told the landlord he could sell whatever furniture Xander left behind, in an attempt to placate the man for breaking the lease. The landlord calmed down considerably when he learned that Xander's large-screen TV was one of the things he was leaving.

He called and left a message on Willow's machine, asking her to file a change-of-address card for him at the post office, telling her to have his mail sent to her. Xander knew she'd tell him when he called if he got anything important. He also asked her to say goodbye to the rest of the gang for him, apologizing for not taking the time to do it himself.

Spike helped him pack, sorting through his stuff to decide what to take and what to leave behind. By the time they had everything sorted into 'trash' and 'take' piles, it was after sunset. Spike started carrying bags and boxes to Xander's car, while Xander packed a cooler with snacks and blood bags. He set the cooler by the door and started taking the trash to the dumpster.

Finally, the apartment was empty, except for the furniture and the TV. "Shame to leave that behind, pet," Spike said, nodding toward the TV.

"I know. But at least this way I don't feel so bad about skipping out on my lease." Xander shrugged. "It's not like we can take it with us anyway."

"True." Spike watched Xander look around the apartment one last time. ((Wonder what he's thinkin' right now.))

"I keep thinking I should be less...excited about this whole thing." Xander turned to face Spike and noticed as he started in surprise at Xander's apparent reading of his mind. "What?"

Spike shook his head. "Nothin'." He shifted from foot to foot, eager to be on the road, wanting to be gone before the Slayer wandered by and discovered what they were doing. "Why do you say that?"

"I just keep thinking I should be sadder. About leaving the gang alone to deal with the Hellmouth, about not seeing my friends and family anymore." Xander stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet. "I didn't even say goodbye to my folks."

"Do you want to?" Spike asked reluctantly. Now that they'd decided to go, he just wanted to get the hell out of town.

Xander shook his head. "Not really. It'll take 'em months just to notice I'm missing. It's not like we've ever been close." He made a face. "We haven't really talked since the wedding."

Spike remembered Dawn telling him how Xander's father had made a drunken spectacle of himself at said wedding and snorted. "Not thinkin' it's a great loss, pet, but I'm sorry." He threw an arm around Xander's shoulders and squeezed. "Enough broodin'. We're gonna see Angel tonight - no sense gettin' a head start on the angst."

Xander laughed at that. "You're right." He kissed Spike once and asked, "Ready to go L.A. and see your Daddy?"

Rolling his eyes, Spike snorted. "Ready as I'll ever be."

 

~Fin~