Title: Torturous Dark

Author: OpheliacAngel

Pairings & Characters: Lindsey/Angel

Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort

Rating: Teen

Summary: A dark shadow asks for entrance, and Lindsey grants the wish.

A/N: This isn't set in a specific episode or season. It's pretty much just a written out of nowhere, AU fic. And yes, I know that it's incredibly sappy, that's how I ease into a new fandom.


"Lindsey," a voice whispers in the dark, and he groans and rolls over in bed, facing away from the door and shutting his eyes once more, dead tired from the previous charades of the day. He must have drifted off again, because the next time he wakes there are images of blood and gore and sounds of metal clanging against metal reverberating throughout his mind, giving him the onset of a migraine. He lays awake for a while, just listening to the uncomfortable silence of the dark, watching the curtains rustling against the open window, fixated, hardly daring to breathe.

He blinks, and the next second there is a dark shadow blocking the luminous night sky. He hears his name again, a louder whisper, and he suspects it comes from the shadow.

"Thought you were a strolling through the door type of vampire," he mumbles, eyes curiously roaming over the shadow, already suspecting who it is.

There is no laugh, no malicious tone when he answers, "Came here for you, Linds." And there it is, the nickname Angel had given him not too long before, the one he so loves to hear whispered from the lips of this one vampire and no other. "Does it matter how I enter?" Lindsey doesn't dignify that with a response for a while, and Angel's impatience isn't shown in his slight movements or posture, he merely waits, watching over the young lawyer for no known reason.

"I still don't get why you decided to grace me with your presence." It's now that he wonders if he's still dreaming, because there's no reason for the vampire to be here, the one with the face and soul and eyes of an angel. There's no possible reason for him to be crouching on the windowsill of his piece of shit apartment and watching him silently, in the dark, seeing more of Lindsey than Lindsey can see of him.

And it doesn't seem fair to him, but he doesn't care, because he wants Angel to watch over him like this forever. He thinks he'd even beg for it in another minute.

"You can come in, so long as you promise you won't try to kill me or anything."

"I promise."

"Come in then," he repeats, feeling the need to yawn but too tired to do so. He closes his eyes then, feeling sleep about to take him again and he doesn't want to fight it, only wonders if he made a mistake by allowing Angel to enter. He doesn't hear anything for what seems to be the longest time, not the vampire's footsteps or his breathing, not that he actually breathes or anything. Lindsey isn't panicking either though, he's more relaxed and at ease than he usually is, and he merely lies there, a submissive to Angel's will, to his deepest and darkest desires.

He's giving permission for Angel to do whatever he will to him, and maybe Angel should kill him, due to all the damage he's caused, all the grief and destruction and Lindsey just feels so lost anymore. He doesn't want Angel to hate him, to spite him or kill him; he wants to depend on Angel to keep him sane even though he's not sure that'll even work.

The bed dips, suddenly, and the young lawyer feels cool, strong and capable arms wrap around his body from behind. He speaks with certainty, "Angel."

"Get some sleep, Lindsey."

"Don't think I really want to anymore." He opens his eyes and flips over to look at Angel, forcing him to unwrap his arms. He wants to look deep into those chocolate eyes and find solace there, find that Angel actually cares about his nightmares, the struggles he goes through everyday, still trying to find out whose side he truly belongs to and if anyone even cares at all.

Lindsey looks away, he's not going to find this in Angel. "You don't care. Lilah's so sure and you're so sure of where you stand and where you draw the line and here I am, stuck in the middle, trapped, traumatized and it's my fault too. I chose, I had to choose, but I never said I thought it was the right choice. I never said I..."

Angel kisses him then, slowly yet passionately, and nothing could express his emotions or intentions more. Lindsey finds that he wants more, soon, but that it's enough for now. It's more than enough.

The vampire smiles softly at him and brushes his fallen hair, which he had decided to grow out again, off his forehead gently, like he's akin to something fragile. There's a certain longing in the gesture that the young lawyer can taste, that he can't shake no matter how hard he may try. Angel wraps his arms around him once more and Lindsey sighs in contentment, happy and not at all afraid to display it to a vampire.

"I care," and it sounds so real, Lindsey wants it to be real. "I want you, Linds. Why do you think I'm here with you and not with my team?"

"You left your team," the lawyer answers, though his previous words sink in fierily that Angel chose to spend the night with him, not roaming the streets protecting and defending the helpless. He feels dirty, unclean, and he buries himself in the vampire's chest because of this, snuggling into the natural coolness of his body, reveling in the smell and taste of his skin. Angel's head drops down onto his own, petting Lindsey's hair gently and nuzzling his head with his cheek.

"So if I ask you to stay...?"

"You don't have to ask."

Lindsey smiles wider, because even if the dreams come, Angel will be there to chase them away. Angel will stay, with him, here in the torturous dark. His protector.

"Just do me a favor and get here earlier next time."

FIN