Will woke; he was warm and safe in his dream-fogged mind and what a wonderful dream he had been having. His Angel  had come and rescued him, sweeping in to his bedroom and taking him away from that house. Will didn’t want to wake up and face reality, but his bladder was telling him differently. Groaning quietly at the thought of another pain filled trip to the bathroom, Will slowly opened his eyes and promptly closed them again.

‘What the hell is Cordy doing in my bed,’ he thought.

Will slowly opened his eyes again to make sure she was really there and not some drug induced figment of his imagination.

‘Okay, either I’m still dreaming or Cordy is definitely in my bed,’ Will thought as he felt movement behind him. ‘Who the hell is that,’ Will wondered as he lifted hid head to look over his shoulder. ‘Angel, my Angel. I’m still asleep – God I love this dream,’ he thought as he settled down to watch Angel sleep, ignoring the call of his bladder.

Angel stirred and woke to the most wonderful sight -- his boy’s piercing blue eyes staring at him.

“Morning Little One,” Angel said.

“Shush, I’m dreaming,” Will said.

Angel’s brow creased. “You alright?”

Will smiled. “I’m better than alright, I’m having the best dream ever. You rescued me…” Will’s words were lost as his lips descended onto Angel’s.

Angel pulled back reluctantly and quickly looked at Cordelia, who was still sleeping.

“We can’t, what about Cordy?”

Will looked at Angel, his eyes sparkling. “It’s my dream and I can do what I want.”

Comprehension suddenly came to Angel as he reluctantly fought to keep his boy’s lips from his.  “Will, it wasn’t a dream.” Seeing the confused look on his boy’s face, Angel continued, “Cordy and I did come and get you this morning.”

Will looked around the room, taking in his surroundings for the first time, then lowered his head. “What have you done,” he whimpered quietly.

Angel leaned forwards, placing his hand on Will’s shoulder. His boy shrugged it off, Angel put it right back.

Will spun his head sharply and looked at Angel, his eyes full of despair. “Don’t touch me,” he hissed.

Angel slowly removed his hand. “What?...Why?...I don’t understand,” he stuttered, shocked at the sudden change in his boy.

Will began giggling hysterically. “That’s just it Angel, you don’t understand.”

Angel felt his anger rise. “Then spell it out to me,” he spat.

Will looked at him. “What do you think is going to happen next?”

Angel looked at him blankly

“Jesus Christ, you didn’t even think it through, did you,” Will muttered more to himself than Angel. Sighing, he stared down at the bed and in a low voice said, “What will happen when the police turn up demanding that I return to my parents? What will happen when I have no choice but to go back there? If you think this was bad, you really have no idea of what they are capable of.”

“This was just Mum in a bad mood. If you like, this was just a slap on the wrist. What do you think the pair of them will do when they find out I’m gone?”

“What do you mean the pair of them,” Angel asked worriedly, fearing the answer.

Will giggled hysterically again. “What? You think the one doesn’t know exactly what the other is up to?” Will’s eyes were wide as hysteria set in. “One of their favorite punishments is when they “play” together, with me.”

Will started to rise looking wildly around him. “I need to go…get back…maybe they haven’t noticed…must be a good boy…William’s a good boy,” he muttered as he tried to get up, ignoring the pain shooting through him.

Angel watched him struggle to get up. “What are you doing?”

“Got to go, got to get back.” Will’s movements became erratic as he struggled to stand. “Maybe they won’t notice…maybe I can get back before they do…” he began rambling.

“What’s going on,” drawled a sleepy Cordelia.

“Have to go…have to get back…William is a good boy,” Will continued to mutter as he slowly got to his knees and started backing out of the bed.

Cordelia looked at Angel’s concerned face. “Angel,” she asked shakily.

Angel ignored her and reached out to touch his boy’s shoulder hoping to snap him out of it. “Will…”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Will screamed as he scampered off the bed, breathing hard and looking ghostly pale as he quickly backed into the corner of the room, regardless of the pain. His eyes were unfocused, darting about.

Angel slowly stood holding out his hands and keeping eye contact with his boy. “Will, look at me,” he said softly.

“Angel,” Cordelia squeaked.

Angel held out his hand silencing her, but never took his eyes off the shaking figure in the corner of the room.

“Will, look at me,” he said a little louder, sighing slightly when he saw recognition in the piercing blue eyes staring at him.

“I have to go,” Will whimpered.

“No, you don’t,” Angel said quietly as he took a step closer. “You are going to stay here with me.”

Tears gleamed in his boy’s eyes and Angel felt his stomach lurch. Will looked so forlorn and lost standing there shaking.

“I have to go,” Will repeated, his voice a whisper as the fight flew out of him.

Angel cautiously took another step towards him. “No, you don’t.”

Will looked at him with pain-filled eyes. “But it hurts…and it will hurt worse if I don’t go back now.”

Angel didn’t know what to say to his boy. He wanted to promise that no one would ever hurt him again,  that he could stay here forever, safe and happy, just him and his boy, but Angel knew it wasn’t possible, so he just took another step closer to his boy and offered him the only thing he had to give – comfort.

Sobbing, Will fell into Angel’s arms.

“Make it stop,” he begged.

Angel didn’t know if Will wanted the physical pain to stop or the torture that was his life to stop, so he just held him close muttering sweet nothings in his boy’s ear while they both cried.

Cordelia sat on the bed and felt lost watching the intimate scene in front of her. Angel held up his arm and she bounded off the bed to join them.

***

It was Cordelia who finally broke the silence that followed the tears and sobs. Disentangling herself, she quietly said, “I’m going to phone Mum.”

Angel nodded and quickly reached into his pocket and handed her his mobile, knowing his sister would never use her phone if another was available. Cordelia smiled and started punching the numbers as she walked out of the room.

“You alright,” Angel asked Will, whose head was still buried in his chest.

Taking a shaky breath, Will straightened and pulled reluctantly away, scrubbing his fists over his tear-stained cheeks. “I’m fine,” he muttered looking down at his feet a bit embarrassed by his outburst.

Angel nodded. “You want something to eat or drink?”

Will shook his head.

“I’m going to pop the kettle on, will you be alright?”

Will nodded again and Angel quietly left him standing there and went to the sitting room  only to find a red-faced Cordelia glaring at him, phone stuck to her ear.

“What,” Angel mouthed. Cordelia shook her head and turned her back.

Angel shrugged and walked into the kitchen and popped the kettle on to boil. He didn’t really want a drink. The only reason he had offered was so he could have some time and space to try and pull himself together for Will. God, what was he going to do? Will was right – he hadn’t thought it through properly.  What would happen to his boy when he finally went back there? Angel was pulled out of his musings by the click of the kettle and set about making himself and Cordy a cup of coffee.

He carried the mugs into the sitting room just in time to see Cordelia slam the phone down on the table.

“Hey, watch it -- I’m not made of money,” Angel scolded her.

“Sorry,” Cordelia muttered as she took the proffered cup. “Mum’s grounded me for a week…a week…because she found out that I didn’t go to school today. I mean all those other days I’ve bunked off and today, when I was actually doing something more important than shopping, I get caught. I mean, where’s the justice,” Cordelia ranted.

“I’ll talk to Mum and sort it out; tell her it was my idea and my fault. You should be ungrounded by tomorrow,” Angel said

“You better mister,” Cordelia said, pointing her finger accusingly at him. “I got to go. Mum wants me home in half an hour for tea.” Cordelia started collecting her things and quickly popped her head into the bedroom and said goodbye to Will. Then she walked over to Angel and gave hum a huge hug. “You look after him for me,” she said quietly.

“I will,” Angel replied.

They broke apart and Cordelia looked him in the eye, gave a sad smile, nodded and left, yelling over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to have a word with Mum,” as the door slammed shut behind her.

Angel sighed and swigged back the rest of his coffee before leaving the cup on the little table and walking into the bedroom.

Will was still standing where Angel had left him, staring into space deep in thought. Unwilling to have a repeat performance of earlier, Angel softly called Will’s name gaining his boy’s attention so as not to startle him.

Will smiled sadly. “Hey, sorry about earlier…I just…I kinda lost it.”

Angel smiled and walked up to him putting his hand reassuringly on his shoulder. “It’s understandable and you were right. I hadn’t thought it through properly…I just couldn’t leave you there.”

Will looked up and smiled a dazzling smile that made Angel’s heart jump.

“A handsome man. A handsome man saved me from the monsters," Will whispered as he stepped closer. “My Angel,” he leaned in closer, “my knight in shining armor.”

Angel bobbed his head and Will caught those lips in a tentative but passionate kiss. Will snaked his arms around Angel’s neck, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss as their tongues battled.

Angel growled in frustration as his cock began to harden. He wanted nothing more than to throw his boy in the bed and love him, but he knew Will’s injuries made that impossible.

Instead, Angel slipped his hands up under his boy’s t-shirt, desperate for the feel of naked skin. Angel pulled him closer reveling in the feel of his boy plastered against him. Angel’s cock grew painfully hard, throbbing and seeking release from its captivity, and his boy’s sweet mouth kept kissing him, their tongues dueling.

Angel thrust his hips forwards slightly seeking contact; Will hissed. Angel did it again, but this time his boy pulled away just as there restrained cocks would have met.

“I…I can’t,” Will muttered slightly embarrassed, “It hurts too much.”

Angel’s brow creased in concentration while he thought. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and began fiddling with the waistband of his boy’s sweatpants.

“Angel, no,” Will said firmly while trying to bat seeking hands away.

Angel sat back on his heels and stared up at his boy’s face “Why not?  I promise it won’t hurt.”

Will reached out and cupped Angel’s chin, pushing his embarrassment aside and whispered, “I know luv, but it wasn’t just my arse she hurt,” Will held his breath, watching a multitude of emotions flicker across Angel’s face.

“What did she do?” Angel’s voice was like stone.

“Nothing really, it’s just a small nick; hurts like hell, but it will heal in no time.”

Angel nodded as he slowly rose from his knees and pulled his boy close, his cock suddenly flaccid and lifeless.

***

It was Angel who pulled away first this time. “So, what do you want to do?”

Will shrugged.

Angel thought for a bit, mentally adding up how much cash he had left. “How about I run you a bath and then we get a take out and watch the box?”

Will smiled. “Bath sounds good, but not too hot.”

Angel nodded and went to run the bath.

Will began rummaging through his stuff looking for some clean comfortable trousers to wear.

He knew when he scrambled off the bed he had opened a few of the cuts and they were bleeding again, but none of that mattered now that he was here, with his angel. He was safe – for now. Will pushed that thought out of his head as soon as it entered. He would deal with the consequences as they arose and he threw a comfy pair of trousers on to the bed for later.

Angel walked in. “Baths running.”

Will nodded and Angel walked over to his chest of drawers and started moving stuff about.

“What are you doing?”

Angel looked up “I’m making space, so you have somewhere to put your stuff,” Angel explained.

Will smiled and began unpacking, which mainly involved just shoving his clothes willy-nilly into the drawers. Angel left him to it and checked on the bath. Will was almost done when Angel yelled, “Bath’s ready!”

Will entered the bathroom slowly only to see Angel leaning over the bath testing the water, Will stood there leaning against the door frame admiring the view. Angel straightened and turned, smiling as he saw his boy standing there. “I’ll leave you to it,” he said quietly suddenly embarrassed.

Will put his hand on his chest as Angel went to walk past, stopping him. He looked down at his feet wondering how to ask “Join me,” he said quickly, still staring at his feet. “I…I kinda need a hand.” He shrugged.

Angel smiled shyly, lifted his boy’s chin and simply nodded. Will leaned in and tentatively took the bottom of Angel’s t-shirt and began slowly undressing him. After he was naked, Angel returned the favor. Pulling off his boys t-shirt went without a hitch. Then came the sweatpants. “You ready,” Angel asked.

Will took a deep breath calming himself. “Just do it quickly.”

Angel nodded. Will leaned forwards holding Angel’s shoulders. Angel wrapped his arms round his boy and pulled the back of the waistband out as far as it would go. Will hissed as some of the material that had attached itself to some of his wounds pulled and the scabs suddenly ripped free. Angel quickly lowered the trousers and Will leant against his back for support as he stepped out of them.

They both straightened. Will wobbled and Angel grabbed him and looked at him, his face full of concern. “Maybe this is a bad idea. You could just lie on the bed while I bathe you,” he suggested as he looked at Will’s pale face.

“No,” came the forceful response. “I want to do this, I need to do this,” he pleaded.

Angel nodded in understanding and climbed into the bath holding his hand out to help his boy.

Will shook his head. “This way’s easier, you get comfy,”

Angel slowly sat down in the warm water and watched as his boy stood side on to the bath. “No laughing,” he scolded. Angel smiled and watched as his boy gracefully bent forwards, leaning on the sides of the bath while at the same time his leg went up so he made a T shape. Slowly he lowered his leg into the bath and then raised the other one until he was bent over, but standing in the bath between Angel’s legs. His breath was coming in short sharp gasps.

“Nearly there Little One,” Angel said softly

“Nice view from here, might just stay,” Will gasped.

Angel cuffed him gently on the side of the head. “Cheeky.”

Will took another deep calming breath. “Can you lie down for me?”

Angel slowly slid down into the bath getting comfy. Will took a deep breath and slowly began to lower himself to his knees, hissing when the water made contact with some of the lower welts.

Angel couldn’t just lay there and not do something any longer. “Let me help,” he whispered.

Will nodded and Angel placed a hand on each of Will’s shoulders. “Lean forwards and I’ll lower you down as far as I can.”

Will sighed in relief. It was easier to deal with the pain if someone else was in charge and he knew from experience that the water was going to hurt like hell. Will nodded and relinquished his death grip on the side of the bath and leaned forwards.

Slowly Angel lowered his boy until Will was able to brace his hands on the bottom of the bath and lower himself the last few inches, so he was lying on Angel’s chest.

Will stayed there, his ear over Angel’s heart listening to the steady beat while his own heartbeat pounded round his entire body, amplifying the pain. His breath was coming in gasps.

Slowly he began to relax.

Angel laid there just loving the feel of his boy covering him. His arms held Will close as he stared up at the ceiling, unable to look down in case he caught a glimpse of his boy’s battered and bleeding arse.

He may have seen it before, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep the tears at bay this time.

They both laid there in each other’s arms surrounded by a comfortable silence, each with their own thoughts.

The bath water was finally turning cold and Angel cautiously looked down at the top of his boy’s head. “Will,” he said gently, but there was no response. “Will,” he said again, a small smile playing on his lips as his suspicions were confirmed. His boy had fallen asleep on him. He bent forwards as far as he could and whispered in his ear, “Wake up Little One, time to move.”

Will stirred and looked up all sleepy-eyed. “Sorry, must have drifted off.”

 

Angel smiled. “Come on, we don’t want you catching a cold on top of everything else.”

Will pouted. “Don’t wanna move.”

“Me neither,” Angel said wistfully, “but we have to.”

Sighing, Will slowly got onto all fours and began to right himself.

As soon as Angel was able to, he scrambled out of the bath and helped his boy to stand, then wrapped him a big fluffy towel.

Angel looked at his boy. He was white as a sheet and didn’t look too steady on his feet. “Maybe you should go lie down,” Angel commented.

Will smiled. “If I lie down, I won’t be getting up again and besides, I seem to remember someone saying something about watching TV”

Angel nodded. “How about you go lie down in bed and I’ll bring the TV to you.”

Will’s face brightened; he had been silently dreading trying to find a comfy position on the couch. “That would definitely work better,” he beamed.

Angel couldn’t help but smile back. “You need a hand getting into bed?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Will said as he left the bathroom with Angel close on his heels.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Don’t mind as long as it’s not curry,” Will informed him as he entered the bedroom and began the slow process of getting dry.  He stood staring at the pair of trousers dreading the thought of having to put them on.

Angel walked in, towel wrapped round him, holding a selection of menus to find his boy standing at the edge of the bed wrapped in the towel. Angel walked over and stood behind him, leaning in he whispered, “You don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to, I won’t do anything I promise.”

Sighing with relief, Will nodded and with the towel still wrapped around him began the slow process of climbing into bed. When he was finally lying down, Angel pulled the duvet over his boy and Will slowly began the process of taking the towel off. He knew it was silly, they had just shared a bath together naked, but he felt funny about being totally naked in front of Angel in the bedroom.

“Here, you choose,” Angel said handing Will the bundle of leaflets.

Will quickly skimmed through them and chose pizza. Angel made the call; it would be thirty minutes.

Quickly finding an old pair of jeans, Angel dressed and began the task of moving the tellie into the bedroom, which turned out to be easier said than done and had Will in fits of giggles while he listened to the cursing as Angel tried to untangle the aerial from the rest of the maze of wiring for the video, DVD and PlayStation 2. Eventually, he was set to lug the big old TV set into the bedroom.

Just as Angel was finally plugging in the aerial, the door bell went. He switched the set on and threw the remote at Will. “Good timing,” he said with a smile.

Will instantly began flipping through the four channels to see what he could find, which, as usual, was not a lot  -- a repeat of Only Fools and Horses on BBC 1, a documentary on BBC 2, some reality show on ITV, and the Top 100 Camp Moments on TV on channel 4. He tried to find channel 5, but it appeared Angel didn’t have it tuned in.

“Anything interesting,” Angel asked as he walked in, his arms full of food.

“What do you think,” Will said leaning up a bit.

“I’ll sort the DVD player out after dinner.”

“What films you got,” Will asked as he took the pizza box from Angel.

“You name it, I got it,” Angel said with a smile, “Got a friend who does copies for me.”

Will took a piece of pizza and began devouring it. Angel watched in fascination as the extra-large pizza was quickly consumed by his boy. “When was the last time you ate?”

Will looked at him, pizza halfway to his mouth, and shrugged. “Think it was about two days ago,” he said with a smile.

Angel suddenly wasn’t hungry. “So, what films have you seen,” he said quickly changing the subject.

Will gave him a ‘duh’ look. “Angel luv, I hadn’t seen the ‘Lion King’ – do you seriously think I’ve seen anything that hasn’t been on TV?”

“I suppose not,” Angel said sheepishly, “Alright, what kind of film do you want to watch?”

Will shrugged.

Angle sighed. “Well, you’re no help – how about a comedy?”

“Nah.”

“Drama?”

“Boring.”

“Western?”

Will just gave him a look for that suggestion.

“Okay, what about a romance?”

Will shook his head, his mouth once again full of pizza.

“Action?”

“Yeah, something brain numbing.”

”Right, that leaves us with Vin Diesel, Schwarzenegger or Stallone,”

“Vin Diesel.”

Angel nodded and thought about his collection. “How about ‘A Man Apart’?”

Will shrugged.

“’Triple X’ or ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’? “

“Oh, I’ve heard of the ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’,” Will said happily as he started munching his way through the garlic bread.

Angel smiled at the picture his boy made as he climbed off the bed to go find the VCD’s and sort out the DVD player.