Title: Ichthus
Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: S/X
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: Spike knew the minute he'd moved in with Xander that his father was abusive but one day he finds out just how bad.
Warnings/Spoilers: S.4
Beta'd by: Unbeta'd

Prompt #426 from tamingthemuse- Ichthus

Note: From now on most of my tamingthemuse stories will be named as the challenge.

Spike had been living with Xander for two months now. It wasn't great, he hated being tied to the barcalounger but it was better than being chained in the bathtub. Though with Xander, Spike had to make sure he was quiet. When Xander had told him this Spike's first instinct was to make as much noise as possible until Xander told him that if his parents found him in the basement he'd be back living with Giles. That made Spike shut his mouth.

Living with someone for two months you learn a lot about a person. Xander wasn't nearly as lazy as Spike had originally thought. The human always got up at seven in the morning. He'd then tidy up the mess he had made the night before. Xander would next make breakfast usually consisting of some sugary cereal and milk before going for his shower. Once Xander was dressed he'd heat up a mug of blood for Spike and nudge him awake. Everyday Spike would grumble even though he was actually up. Everyday Xander would remind him that if he didn't eat now that he wouldn't eat until he returned home from work.

Before leaving Xander would turn on the TV and change it so Spike could watch his talk shows. He really shouldn't have the channel but if his dad didn't know he was stealing his cable wouldn't hurt Xander. Literally.

For the next seven hours Xander would be at his minimum wage job. Some local pizza joint that Spike had passed by it a time or two. It actually smelt pretty good. Maybe he could convince Xander to bring some home for him tomorrow.

Spike was surprised when Xander returned home two hours before his shift was over. Xander never came home early. Curious Spike was about to ask why but the smell it him. "You couldn't have cleaned your vomit off before coming into the house?" He complained.

"It's not mine," Xander argued. "And don't you think I would have if I could have? I didn't have a change of clothes." He peeled his shirt over his head carefully. He stripped down to his boxers and walked by Spike to throw them into the washer.

Spike was about to go back to his show when something caught his attention. "What's that now?"

"What's, what?" Xander asked as he turned the washing machine on.

Spike pointed but with Xander not looking at him it was pointless. "That mark that on your chest. Weirdest looking birthmark I've ever seen."

Xander froze. How could he forget? He'd been so careful the last couple months with Spike being here. "It's a… scar."

"From what? A demon?" Spike asked more interested. He always loved talking old battle wounds.

"Sort of," Xander said and went back to his laundry.

Spike frowned. Why was Xander being so secretive about it? He shrugged. "I'll just ask Red about it next time she visits," Spike said.

Xander's shoulders began to shake. If Spike asked Willow she'd start asking questions. Questions he didn't want to answer. Answers he didn't want her to know. "Willow doesn't know about it." He grabbed a reasonable clean button up shirt and slid it on.

"I find that hard to believe. I know for a fact you know everything about one another," Spike replied. "I'll ask her later and raise some questions from everyone... or you can tell me now."

Xander cursed. Damn Brad for coming into work with a stomach bug. If he had just stayed home none of this would have been happening. What was Xander going to do? If he didn't tell Spike he would go to the others and ask questions but if he did tell Spike he'd go and tell the others. There was a no win situation for him here. "It's not from a demon. A monster yes but not a demon." Xander turned to face Spike. Having Spike tied up made Xander feel a little less uncomfortable about his story.

"I don't understand," Spike said. "How can a monster not be a demon?"

"You're not stupid, Spike. No matter what the others may think. You've lived here for months now. You know exactly what my dad is like even though you've never laid eyes on him," Xander responded.

Xander was right; Spike did know how his dad was. He was emotionally and physically abusive to his wife almost every day and whenever he saw Xander. Even though Spike was a soulless demon that didn't mean he approved of that type of behavior. Mr. Harris was supposed to worship his wife. Give her everything he could just like Spike had done with Drusilla. Though with Drusilla it was never enough. "Yeah, you're right, I'm not stupid."

"Last year, was crazy. Senior year. I had no plans for the future because I thought I was going to die in the fight against the mayor during graduation. Faith coming to town to help us only to find out she was insane," Xander said. He sat down on his bed and sighed. "Surprisingly that was actually the easy part of the year. Been there and done that, you know? Larry though, I didn't see that coming at all."

"Larry?" Spike asked. "That's a girl's name now?"

Xander blushed. "No. Maybe. But in this case no."

"Really?" Spike asked intrigued. Xander got a lot more interesting. "Tell me more."

"I don't know how to explain how we got together. It was after my fling with Faith… which is a story for another day. We were together in secret. Larry was out and I was… I didn't know what I was. But it was nice. Something fun and semi-normal. Larry didn't really know what goes on in Sunnydale. He knew something was weird about this town but not just how weird until graduation. Anyway…" Xander paused. "Is that enough? I mean that's plenty of blackmail material right there."

Spike shifted as much as he could. "Not looking to blackmail you."

"Then why do you want to know?" Xander asked with a frown. Why else would Spike want to know anything about him?

"I'm bloody bored. My life has been turned upside down because of those damn soldiers. You are basically the only person I ever see. Fuck you're my only friend," Spike replied uncomfortably. Bloody hell he was pathetic.

Xander didn't comment on that, anything he added would make Spike feel as if he was being pitied and that would just piss him off. "Larry came home with me one day after school. My mom was so excited because one of the popular kids in school was friends with me. I remember Larry being very polite to her before we headed up to my room to study. We studied maybe for twenty minutes before we started making out. I forgot to pay attention to the time. I should have known better but it was just so amazing. The way Larry looked at me. He didn't think I was less than him. Someone that always got into trouble or in the way."

"Sounds like a good guy," Spike commented.

"Yeah, he was. Anyway, dad came home and mom told him that one of the football players were friends with me. I guess dad got excited; he played football in high school. He barged into my room. He got an eye full. He started to scream at us. Larry stood up blocking my dad from getting at me. I told Larry it was okay and that I'd talk to him later. Larry was hesitate but if he had stayed it would have been worse. He nodded and pushed my dad out of his way. When we heard the door close…" Xander paused. "Dad grabbed me by my collar and dragged me down the stairs. Mom didn't even pat an eye as he pulled me into the living room. He threw me on the floor and told me to stay there. He started a fire in the fireplace. Once the fire was really going he took this poker… what I thought was a poker. He pulled my shirt up before sticking the thing in the fire. Once it was burning he pressed it into my chest."

Spike watched as Xander stood up and moved over to him. He pushed aside his shirt. Spike's eyes almost fell out of his sockets. Xander's father had branded him… with an ichthus fish signature. "Bloody hell."

"I think I passed out from the pain. When I woke up it was dark outside and my parents were in bed," Xander said. "The next day dad said something about it helping me realize that being gay is a sin and that he didn't want me going to hell." Xander dropped let go of his shirt. "The next day Larry said he couldn't be in a relationship like that. It was one thing me wanting to hide what we had but having to deal with a homophobic drunk was not going to happen. The next time I talked to Larry was asking him to help stop the mayor. The last time I talked to him actually."

"Wow… I'm sorry," Spike said. What else was he supposed to say to that? "And you never told Red about it or Larry?"

"Larry died during the ascension; Willow was all about college starting up. I went traveling to get away. Life went on," Xander said with a shrug. "When I came back I moved down here and you know the rest."

They both sat there neither knowing what else to say. Finally Spike broke the silence. "I won't tell anyone."

"Why would you keep my secret?" Xander asked honestly confused. Spike was a soulless bastard any pain he could cause he would.

"Because just like you're my friend, I'm yours as well," Spike stated. "You tell anyone that and you'll be the first I kill when I get this chip out of my head."

That was the first day Xander untied Spike.

The End