Part Two

*****

They stayed on their knees in the courtyard for long moments, clinging together until Spike finally shifted away and rose to his feet, pulling Xander along. The dark man wiped his face and ran his fingers under the patch to brush away the tears there. Spike stepped back and swept his eyes over Xander from head to toe.

"You look good," he drawled, leering. Xander’s laugh threatened to turn into a sob, but he got control of it at the last second.

"You… you look pretty good yourself. A sight for sore eye, even." They exchanged a smirk.

"A hundred and forty one days and you don’t have a better eye joke than that?" Spike asked.

"A hundred and forty two days," Xander corrected automatically. Spike tilted his head.

"Nope, today is a hundred and forty two – but it doesn’t count, now does it?" Xander placed his hand on Spike’s face.

"You’re so warm. It’s so weird," he marveled. Spike laughed and covered Xander’s hand with his own.

"It has taken some getting used to," he said dryly. Their hands moved together gently against Spike’s cheek, and the blond’s eyes closed in pleasure. He opened his eyes and looked into Xander’s face.

"Did you mean it, pet?" he asked, his voice cracking with emotion. Xander leaned forward and rested their foreheads together. He swallowed convulsively.

"Yeah, Spike, I meant it. I mean it." He stepped back and put a little space between them.

Xander reached down and pulled off his watch. Spike looked down at the uncovered tattoo. He reached out one finger to touch it.

"What’s it say, Xan?" Xander reached down and traced the tattoo with one finger alongside Spike’s.

"Six days," he said quietly. Spike brought the other man’s wrist to his mouth and kissed the spot with warm lips and a tiny hint of tongue. Xander shivered. Their gazes locked and heat flared between them. Spike released Xander’s wrist, and they each took in a deep breath.

Xander was ready to pull the slighter man to him and kiss him senseless when Buffy’s voice came floating through the courtyard.

"Yeah," she said, "let’s eat out here – it’s not like we’re gonna get Spike out of the sun anytime soon, anyway." Her comment was met with appreciative laughter from Fred and Cordelia, who trailed behind her. Xander took a self-conscious step back from Spike and turned to meet the two brunette women with hugs and kisses, which they happily returned. Buffy led the group over to a large picnic table situated in the shade, where they all settled, with Xander making sure to sit next to Spike, leaning slightly against the other man to reassure himself that he was real.

"Where’s Dawnie?" he inquired casually.

Buffy turned and grimaced at him.

"I made her go to school – she had a test this morning." Xander grinned at her.

"Fyarl or Babylonian?" Buffy’s grimace turned into a rueful smile.

"Math," she said. Xander’s eyes widened.

"Oooooh, scary!" Buffy nodded her head.

"No kidding. She better not flunk it, either!" They laughed together. Spike looked up at Buffy hopefully.

"Did you say something about lunch, Slayer?" His voice was pitiful, but his eyes shone with mirth. She reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax, Food-boy – Wes is bringing Thai," she said in a teasing tone. Spike and Xander both said, "Yum!" and then laughed at each other. Xander was happy to see that Spike and Buffy treated each other more like friends or siblings than former lovers. As the girls chattered happily, Xander looked at Spike.

"When do I get the story?" he asked. Spike took the other man’s hand under the table and squeezed it.

"Over lunch – some of the others have bits and pieces, but it’ll be easier if I just tell it through once." Xander squeezed back, and the two men exchanged brilliant smiles. Neither noticed all three women’s "Awwwwww" looks and soft smiles.

The doors to the courtyard opened, and a bag-laden Wesley strode out, followed by Dawn, who was skipping along beside him, carrying a large tray full of paper plates and beverages. Dawn plopped her burden onto the table and flung herself at her sister. They hugged.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me come back after my test – which I’m pretty sure I passed!" Dawn squealed. The bouncing teenager made a circuit of the table, exchanging hugs and kisses with everyone. She squeezed herself between Spike and Xander, who parted reluctantly, and started dealing plates around the table like cards. Wes and Xander exchanged more subdued greetings, and Cordelia and Fred unpacked lunch and passed paper cartons around the table.

Xander laughed out loud at the sheer volume and variety of food that Spike placed on his plate. The blond grinned at him and dug in. They chatted and laughed while they ate, passing the cartons around, stealing from each other’s plates and generally having a friendly meal. Finally they packed all the trash away and everyone’s eyes turned to Spike, who preened under the attention until Dawn dug an elbow into his ribs.

"OK, OK – keep your sharp little bits to yourself, Bit," he complained. "I’ll tell." He shifted around on the bench, and then looked longingly at the sun-drenched green lawn outside the shady area where they were seated. Xander noticed and spoke up.

"Hey, can we move out in the sun? I’ve been in the New York fog for days and my tan is suffering." Amid laughter they relocated to the lawn and sprawled into comfortable positions.

Spike leaned back onto his hands and looked up at the blue sky.

"I still can’t believe I’m in the sun. " His tone was so quiet and wistful that the others unconsciously leaned toward him, and Xander pressed his shoulder lightly against Spike’s. The blond man looked around at the faces of those gathered and smiled.

"I woke up in a hospital – a loony bin, really. They said I’d been there for a week, in a coma. Once I woke up, I couldn’t remember much. I – uh, well, apparently, I freaked out the first time the sun fell on me." He ducked his head against his shoulder, and Xander was startled to see a faint blush on the other man’s pale skin.

"Screamed like a schoolgirl, I did," Spike continued. "‘Course, once I realized I wasn’t on fire I noticed a few little things like having a heartbeat and a pulse and all.

"Over the next few days I started remembering things a little at a time. I slept a lot. They eventually started telling me stuff. There were several other people there who’d been found in the desert after the ‘earthquake’," Spike snorted, and there were rolled eyes and nods from the others. "I was brought in by campers who found me – about a month ago." He shook his head, still not able to believe all the things that had happened in such a short time. "Over the three weeks I was awake at the hospital I remembered things little by little. Two days ago I finally remembered a key piece of information – Angel’s cell phone number. I called, and he sent Watcher, Jr. here," he gestured toward Wes, who grinned, "to pick me up. Any questions?’

"Yeah – what happened to you under the school?" Xander asked.

"The amulet channeled sunlight – it went through me and killed all the uglies," Spike explained. "That was the ‘cleansing power’ Angel talked about. It burned right through me and vaporized everything. It was … it was awesome. And it hurt like hell." Dawn laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"Where did you go after that?" she asked.

"Dunno, Bit. I don’t have a bloody clue – all I know is that I woke up in hospital with everyone lookin’ at me and asking me questions." Spike ran his fingers through Dawn’s long hair and twirled a lock around his fingers.

"So, what exactly happened?" Xander asked. "How can you be alive?" He couldn’t keep his voice from cracking just a little on the final word. Wes looked at Xander.

"Shanshu," he said.

"God bless you," Xander joked. "No, seriously; what’s a shanshu?" Wes sighed.

"There’s a prophecy that the vampire with a soul, once he has completed his purpose, will be made human. We, um, always assumed it referred to Angel." Everyone was quiet for a moment. Dawn broke the uncomfortable silence.

"What did you remember first?" she asked.

Spike frowned.

"I would remember faces and voices, then odd little flashes – like I remembered sitting in my old crypt with you, telling ghost stories, but I couldn’t remember who you were. I remembered being chained up in the Watcher’s bathtub. I remembered being inside the Initiative. Everything was out of order." Xander noticed Spike’s pensive look and decided to introduce a little levity.

"So, you freaked about sunlight … what else made you, ah, ‘scream like a schoolgirl’?" he asked.

The blonde scowled at him playfully.

"Well, being hungry for food for the first time in a century was different. Then I realized that everything tasted so good – even hospital food!" The others laughed at the joy in the former vampire’s voice.

"Yeah, but now you’re gonna have to work out, so you don’t get fat," Xander teased, and Spike laughingly cuffed the other man on the arm. They all chatted happily, asking questions and offering advice for the new human until Cordelia glanced at her watch.

"Oh, crap!" she exclaimed. "It’s nearly four – I have an audition." The others struggled to their feet and hugged her goodbye. Dawn and Gunn took the trash from lunch and excused themselves.

"No Playstation until your homework is done!" Buffy hollered after them, but they both pretended not to hear her.

Xander turned to speak to Spike, but noticed that the blond was deep in conversation with Wesley and Fred, the three of them sitting cross-legged in the grass. A small hand slid around Xander’s waist, and he turned and lifted his arm so Buffy could slide under it. He smiled down into her face, noting the worried look in her eyes.

"Angel’s not taking this well." It wasn’t a question. She frowned.

"No, not really. He – he wanted to be the one to wear the amulet, and I said he couldn’t. He’s …" Xander took and released a deep breath.

"Jealous," he supplied. Buffy nodded.

"I mean, he’s happy for Spike, but he’s … broody. Major, intense broody." She looked miserable, so Xander hugged her to his side and dropped a kiss on top of her head.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

Her green eyes sparkled as she looked up at him.

"Yes, there is," she said. "Can Spike stay with you for a few days? Then maybe I can get Angel to come out of his room." Xander couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face, but decided to play coy.

"What makes you think I want to room with the newly human?" he said.

"Um, experience?" she said. "Both with Spike and the newly human. That and the fact that you’re in love with him?" Xander’s mouth fell open, and he closed it with a snap.

"That obvious, huh?" he asked ruefully. She shook her head.

"No, not to regular people – just people who know either one of you. He loves you, too, you know. You’re the first one he asked about when he got Angel on the phone, and he kept asking when you were going to get here."

Xander felt tears prick behind his eye.

"Are you OK with that?" he asked. She gave him her most brilliant smile.

"Yeah, Xan – I’m great with it. I want you to be happy. I love you both and I want you both to be happy. Besides, I’m prettysureI’minlovewithAngelagain," she mumbled, looking down. He reached down and tilted her face back up to his.

"I heard that," he said. "You forget that I speak "fast mumble" – I have known Willow for twenty years." He searched her face and, seeing only happiness there, he smiled down at her.

Spike, Fred and Wes chose that moment to join them. Buffy and Xander broke apart, and Xander rested a hand on Spike’s shoulder.

"You want to come stay with me for a while so Angel can brood in peace?" he asked the blond. "I live near the beach," he added in a wheedling tone.

Spike rested his hand atop Xander’s briefly, then said, "Thanks for the hospitality, Buffy, but I got a better offer." She laughed.

"Can’t blame you, Spike – you’ll love Xan’s swinging bachelor pad."

Spike excused himself to go gather his few belongings from the hotel; the others meandered into the lobby, where Dawn and Gunn were playing a martial arts fighting game on the Playstation. Fred disappeared upstairs, and Wesley followed soon after. Buffy and Xander sprawled onto the couches and rooted for Dawn to kick Gunn’s butt. Within a few minutes Spike came down the stairs, resisting the urge to slide on the banister, but looking at it longingly. Xander noticed, and they shared a mischievous smile. Spike was carrying a small duffle bag. Xander gestured to it. "Is that it? Oh, we’ve got to get you some stuff – you can’t be a human without a bunch of stuff!" he exhorted the other man.

They said their goodbyes and stepped out of the hotel. After a couple of steps, Spike turned.

"Xan, what’s with all the hugging and kissing with the coming and going? That’s new." Xander laughed and threw an arm around Spike’s shoulders.

"Yeah, after the end of the world everybody got a lot more free and easy with the affection – life’s short and all that," he explained. The blond shifted his bag to his other hand and wound his arm around the taller man’s waist.

"I like it," he said, smugly.

"Me, too," Xander agreed. "This is us," he said, gesturing to his car. Spike’s eyes lit up and he looked up at Xander. "I’m guessing you want the top down?" he laughed.

Once they were settled in the car, Xander turned.

"Spike, I…" His voice was stopped by the touch of lips on his own. Spike wound his hands into his lover’s long waves and pulled their mouths closer together. Xander’s hands came up to the blond’s shoulders and he crushed their upper bodies together, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss. Their tongues tangled, and Xander could only marvel at the heat of Spike’s mouth and the absolute joy of holding this man in his arms again. Eventually, they both needed air and broke the kiss. Neither one wanted to move away, so they stayed, mouths a scant inch apart while they panted.

"I lied," Spike said, breathlessly. "When Dawn asked me what I remembered first – I lied. The first thing I remembered was you, Xan. For a day and a half after I woke up I remembered every single thing about you. I remembered every touch, every kiss. And finally, finally I remembered your name – it was the first word I said." Xander cupped a hand around the back of Spike’s neck and peppered his face with small kisses, overwhelmed by emotion. He pushed the blond head down on his shoulder, and buried his face in his lover’s neck.

Once the pounding of his heart slowed and he got a grip on himself, Xander straightened in his seat and placed both hands on the steering wheel in the two and ten o’clock positions.

"OK," he said, blowing out a breath, "we have things to do. You need stuff, there is no food or beer at my house, and we will get arrested if we do what I want to do right now, here, on the street, in a convertible with the top down." Spike also straightened in his seat, and then reached down to adjust his erection.

"Right there with you, love," he said. "Bank, then food – everything else can bloody wait." Xander turned the key in the ignition, nodding, and then turned to look at Spike.

"Bank?" he asked. With a flourish, the blond pulled a familiar-looking envelope out of a side pocket of the bag on the floor.

Xander opened it and pulled out two disaster relief checks made out to William Montgomery.

"Who’s William Montgomery?" he asked. Spike smirked.

"He’s me." At Xander’s look he added, "OK, he’s kind of me. I had a couple of sets of ID, and Montgomery was the one in my wallet when I was found. Angel had set it up for me a long time ago. Turns out that Mr. Montgomery owned a house in Sunnyhell. The hospital reported me, and some nice government chaps brought me these lovely checks. They also paid my hospital bills." Xander smiled, then smirked, and then laughed out loud. Spike joined in, crowing at the irony.

An hour later, they were at the door of the apartment. Xander flung it open and gestured for Spike to enter. The blond hesitated at the doorsill, and then snorted when he realized that he didn’t need a verbal invitation. He took two steps into the foyer.

"What’s this?" he asked, taking in the fully decorated apartment.

"IKEA – summer catalog, pages 88 through 94," Xander said. Spike’s quiet laugh was cut off as the taller man pushed him up against the back of the door, hemming him in with large, tanned hands on either side of his head.

Xander stopped with his lips an inch from Spike’s and savored the feel of the other man’s warm breath ghosting across his lips. He looked into his lover’s bright blue eyes.

"Have I mentioned how good it is to see you, Spike?" he asked, his voice husky. The corners of Spike’s mouth turned up slightly.

"Don’t tell me, pet – show me." Millimeter by millimeter, Xander closed the distance between them, watching as Spike’s dark lashes closed. Their lips brushed in a feather-light kiss once, and then again before passion overwhelmed them and they crushed their mouths together.

Their arms twined around each other and their bodies slammed together. Spike turned them and pushed Xander back, curling one hand protectively against the back of his head as it impacted with the wall. Rising up on his toes for more leverage, the shorter man pressed his denim-covered erection into Xander’s. They both gasped, and Xander’s hands came down to cradle Spike’s ass and speed the pace. They thrust against one another mindlessly, hands clutching; lips, teeth and tongues exploring one another’s necks and ears.

"Oh, God, Spike," Xander groaned. "You feel so good, want you so much." Spike sucked hard on Xander’s neck, leaving a red mark.

"You’ve got me, love, ‘m not going anywhere, I’m right here with you."

Xander snaked a hand between them, freeing Spike’s leaking cock and then his own. He wrapped his hand around both straining shafts and stroked them.

"So hot," he panted. "Not gonna last." Spike was on the edge of orgasm, barely able to form coherent thought. He wrapped his hand around Xander’s, tightening their mutual grip. He looked up at his lover.

"Say it, Xan," he gritted out. "Tell me." The dark man threw his head back and howled, "Love you, Spike, love you," as he came, spurting his release over both of their hands. Spike followed him over the edge a second later, keening Xander’s name.

Their hands slowed and stopped on sensitive flesh, and they rested, foreheads pressed together and eyes closed for a moment. Xander stepped back and pulled off his tee shirt, using it to clean them up a little. He balled up the shirt and threw it aside, then laughed.

"What’s so funny?" Spike asked.

"You," Xander said simply, gesturing to the other man’s state of disarray; hair standing up in tufts, shirt rucked up, jeans undone. Spike leaned forward and kissed him softly then pushed off of the wall, trying to straighten his clothes.

"Why don’t you go clean up?" Xander said. "I’ll put this stuff away and be there in a second." Spike nodded and wandered off toward the bathroom. Xander put the forgotten grocery bags on the table and quickly put away the beer and snack food they’d picked up in a hurry on the way home. Carrying the large tube of lubricant he’d picked up at the store, he headed for the back of the apartment.

When Xander walked into his bedroom Spike looked up from his seat on the bed. He was holding the Zippo lighter and looking at the two framed pictures on the bedside table. When he looked up, Xander could see that his blue eyes were awash with unshed tears. Kneeling on the floor, he took both of Spike’s hands.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I just … I’m…" Spike stuttered.

"Freaking out?" Xander supplied, and smiled when the other man nodded sadly.

"I can’t imagine how you felt, Xan – when I left you all alone." Xander enfolded Spike in his arms and crooned softly in his ear.

"It’s OK. You’re here now; you’re here with me." He pulled back and looked into his lover’s crystal blue eyes. "It was all worth it, because you’re here with me."

Xander shifted up to sit on the bed and reached into the drawer of the bedside table. He drew out the two pictures of himself and handed them to Spike. As he had hoped, the other man couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

"Frames," he said. "I need frames for these." Xander smiled.

"I’ll make you some." He took the photos and the lighter and placed them on the table. Xander stood, drawing Spike up with him. He tenderly eased the blond’s clothes off, then his own.

"I’m still a little sticky," he said. "I’ll be right back." He dropped a quick kiss on Spike’s lips, pushed him lightly toward the waiting bed, and then went into the bathroom.

After a quick cleanup Xander returned to the bedroom. Glancing at his bed, he stopped short. Spike lay on his stomach, with one arm reaching toward the empty side of the bed, the other curled up and around the pillow. His pale skin and hair contrasted beautifully with Xander’s navy sheets, which pooled around his hips. Spike’s sleepy blue eyes blinked open, and he smiled. Crossing the room, Xander carefully slipped under the sheet. Spike curled onto his side, pressing his back against the warm body behind him. Xander wrapped an arm around Spike’s narrow waist and placed his hand over his lover’s wonderfully, miraculously beating heart. He drifted off to sleep, mesmerized by its steady cadence.

*****

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