Title: Detention
Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: S/X
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: HAU: William and Xander end up in Detention together
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Beta'd by: Unbeta'd
Prompt #504 from tamingthemuse- Discombobulated
Note: From now on most of my tamingthemuse stories will be named as the challenge.
The bell had rang ending the school day for everyone. Well for almost everyone. Xander Harris was the stuck staying after school on a Friday for detention. In English class there was an essay due on Taming of the Shrew. Xander was the only one in a class of twenty to not to turn his in. It wasn't because he didn't want to but because he didn't understand what he was reading. He became discombobulated him every time he opened the book. Shakespeare was a norm to read in high school it didn't make it any easier to read. When he tried to explain that to his English teacher multiple times she didn't seem to care. She said everyone else in the class had no trouble with the book and that he obviously wasn't trying hard enough. That didn't help the frustration he felt.
So here he was in detention for not doing the work and an F on the project. His parents were going to be pissed.
Coach Parker's sat at the teachers' desk looking through a Playboy. He didn't even lift his head when the door opened and in sauntered William Pratt like he owned the place. With how much time he spent in detention it was like he did. "You're late, Pratt," Coach Parker's said.
"Do you really care?" William asked.
"Not really," Coach Parker confessed. "Just plant your butt in a desk. I don't like being here anymore than you do."
With a huff William walked down one of the rows of desks and stopped beside Xander staring down at him.
Xander stopped breathing. William wasn't a popular kid in school but he was well known. He lipped off teachers, smoked in the bathrooms and drank in the locker rooms. He'd even gotten into a fight or ten. Xander didn't want to gain his attention. He closed his eyes when William bent down, hoping that William was like the Tyrannosaurus and could only see movement.
"You're in my seat, mate," William said quietly.
"I-I'm sorry," Xander stammered and all but fell out of the seat.
William laughed and sat in the desk next to Xander's. "Relax. I'm messing with you. Sit." It sounded more like an order than a request. Xander sat. "What are you in for?"
Xander looked at Coach Parker afraid they were going to get into even more trouble.
"Forget him," William waved a hand in the direction of the front of the room. "As long as we're here and not causing a ruckus that's all he cares about."
"I didn't do my homework," Xander said feeling confident enough to actually speak. "You?"
"I nailed a basketball off some geeks' head," William responded.
Xander frowned. "Why? I mean, I'm not telling you what to do. I'm stupid but not that stupid. But… why?"
William made himself comfortable by putting his legs up on the desk. "The prat was talking smack about me. He wasn't even subtle about it."
Whoever it was obviously lived under a rock to not know William's reputation. "I'm sorry."
"That's it?" William asked a flawless eyebrow raised. "You're not even going to ask what he was saying? You don't care about all the juicy gossip?"
"That's all," Xander confirmed. "We don't really know each other. Well I know who you are but you don't know who I am. Anyway, whatever he was saying is none of my business."
It was confusing to William that Xander wasn't interested at all. Anyone else would have been jumping at more information. He watched as Xander pulled out a well-read comic book and started to read it. "He told his friends that I was a shirt lifter," he whispered loud enough for only Xander to hear.
"I… have no idea what that is," Xander confessed. He put his comic book down and turned to face William.
"It's another term for gay, ducks." William found it cute when Xander was confused.
Suddenly becoming uncomfortable Xander said, "And you're not. But out of everything they could have said about you is you being gay really that bad? I mean they could have said you contracted an STD from the lunch lady who by the way I think is trying to poison us, or dress up in your mom's dresses or watch animal porn… or something." His mouth slammed shut when he saw that William was staring at him wide eyed. "And just because I thought of those things does not mean I'm going to go around telling people that you are into that stuff. They were purely pulled out of nowhere for example purposes only."
William opened his mouth to say something but Coach Parker stood up suddenly. "I'll be back in a while. You two stay here." He rolled up his Playboy and placed it under his armpit.
When he left closing the door behind him both William and Xander shuddered at just what he was going to do.
Turning his attention back to Xander, William saw him shrink away in fear. "Please don't beat me up!"
"I'm not going to beat you up," William said kindly. "I am however curious as to why you got defensive about me beating up some dork for saying I'm gay. Could it be because you're gay?"
"I- what?" Xander made a psshing noise. "Of course not! I mean I have sleep overs with girls! Like all the time."
"Buffy and Willow, right?" William asked. When Xander nodded a confirmation he continued. "So which one of them have you hooked up with? Or both of them you dog!"
It didn't take a high IQ for Xander to know that William was goading him. What was he going to do? Lie? No, if Buffy or Willow found out he said he'd slept with them they'd never forgive him. "I'm not sleeping with either of them."
"Why not?" William asked a glint in his eye. "You hiding something?"
"Fine, I'm gay. You are sitting 4 feet away from a fag. Are you happy?" Xander declared. By tomorrow everyone would know. At least he'd still have Buffy and Willow who wouldn't look at him in disgust.
William's lips turned up in a smile. "Actually I am. William Pratt."
"Xander Harris," Xander replied. "And I know who you are. I mean you have kind of a reputation."
"You've heard of me. I like that," William answered. His hand snapped forward grapping Xander's. It was clammy.
A gasp left Xander's mouth before he could stop it. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. When William started rubbing his thumb over his hand Xander relaxed a fraction. "What…what are you doing?"
"Just because I didn't like that dork telling his friends I was gay doesn't mean that it wasn't true," William purred.
Xander whipped his hand away. He didn't know why, William's hand felt really nice. "What? Then why were you so pissed?"
"Because he didn't know for sure. He was just trying to act like he was cool," William answered. "Does it make you nervous that we're the same? Or… does it make you feel something else?" He stood and walked as close to Xander as possible. The height of the seat angled Xander's eyes at William's jean clad crotch.
"Look I know you're the 'big bad' of the school but I'm not going to stand for you harassing me!" Xander said but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. "If Coach Parker comes back and see this you're going to be in a lot more trouble."
"Pet, Coach Parker isn't coming back until we can leave," William informed Xander. "And if you want me to move you'll have to put your hands on my hot, tight body and make me." He watched Xander's jaw tick. He realized that Xander actually thought he was hassling him. That this was some sort of game that would end with him beating Xander into the ground. "You are the first person I've told that I'm gay. Would I really do that just to beat you up? I don't need a bloody reason to do that, if I really wanted to."
Dazed by what was happening Xander decided to believe what William was saying. He slowly stood making sure that his body pressed against William's the entire time. "If you are messing with me I should warn you that Buffy knows Karate, Judo and Tae Kwon Do. She has the power to put you in the hospital." He was now face to face with William. "So you better think this through before anything else happens."
William thought Xander's threat was adorable even though he knew what he said about Buffy was true. Last year in gym class he remembered her flipping Larry over her shoulder after he slapped her ass. "If I get my ass kicked for kissing you, it would be worth it."
"I don't think getting your ass kicked for kissing a guy you don't know is worth it," Xander puffed out. He could smell the nicotine on William's breathe from his last smoke. Remarkably the odor didn't nauseate him.
"Who says I don't know you?" William asked. "We're in the same history class. You sit three rows to my left, two desks back."
"What?" Xander asked. What the hell was happening?
William smiled. A real smile, not the kind of smile you did before beating someone to a pulp. "You use a blue highlighter to highlight important information in your notes. And you mouth the words that you are writing to yourself. I'm assuming so you won't forget what you should write down," William added.
Xander's jaw went slack. It couldn't have been easy on William to watch him. Not only without being caught but because Larry's large form had to be in the way. "No wonder whenever Mr. Sousa asked you a question you never knew what he was talking about."
"I had better things to do," William mumbled honestly.
Feeling more confident than he'd ever had Xander grabbed William's face and kissed him. The fear of anyone walking in on them, finding out what they were didn't seem nearly as scary now. Reluctantly he pulled back. "We should probably stop. Coach Parker will have a heart attack if he walks in on us."
"I don't care," William panted before giving Xander another kiss. "After detention come back to my place. My parents are out of town. We can order a pizza, play some video games and snog."
Xander had no idea what 'snog' meant but he was in. Suddenly the thought of everyone knowing that he was gay seemed more than okay. "What if someone finds out?" Curiosity got the better of Xander. "Are you going to throw a basketball at all of them?"
"Only the ones that have a problem with it," William reassured in his own way. "Anyone says anything about you will get more than a ball to their head."
Not sure how he felt about violence being done because of him it didn't stop a feeling of safety. While Xander wasn't the biggest target of bullying in school he'd had his own run-ins with some of the jocks. Not that Xander would ever use William for his protection but he knew that if he stuck close to him no one would think twice about stealing his lunch money. "You're way different than I thought you were. I mean I thought if I'd ever look at you wrong you'd try to put me in my locker."
"Put you in your locker? No. Push you up against it with me against you? Yes," William said with a wicked grin.
"I…. will have to remember that." Xander grinned back. "Just so you know Buffy and Willow are going to be jealous of the make out sessions. They both have a crush on you. The whole bad boy image is very hot."
There was a twinkle in William's eye. He knew that Xander's friends had a thing for him. They definitely weren't restrained about showing it. "And what about you? I could never get a read on you."
"That's because I was afraid of what you would think. Having hot girls falling all over you is one thing. Nerdy guys don't seem nearly as appealing," Xander declared. It was weird saying it out loud. Even though his friends didn't know he was gay he was afraid at how they'd feel about him lusting over the same guy. "It was you who made me realize I wasn't as straight as I thought actually."
"I happen to find nerdy guys appealing." William felt himself swooning over Xander. All those times he imagined this he never thought it would be happening. Yes, he was a school bully that everyone feared but that didn't mean he didn't have a soft spot. And Xander was that soft spot.
"You like nerdy guys and I like bad boys. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Xander smiled.
William kissed Xander again. "Oh, this will be more than just a beautiful friendship. I can guarantee you that."
The End