Xander sat on the floor, his back resting against the cool, rough stone sarcophagus on which Spike slept. Xander had kept his promise to the vampire and had stayed camped out on the floor of the crypt, comic book in hand and an open bag of Cheetos leaning against his thigh right near his can of coke. The light filtering through the decorative windows was murky due to the amount of grime covering the glass but Xander was managing along just fine. Almost comfy in fact. He'd remembered to bring along his own pillow, which currently resided under his ass, along with the one he'd brought for Spike.

He set aside his comic and stretched before reaching for his drink. He looked around the slowly darkening crypt and wondered how long Spike's healing sleep would last. He didn't mind staying but he also wasn't planning on moving in here for days either. He'd wanted to move Spike to some place more comfortable like...well like his own apartment. But he knew there was no way he could manage to move the injured vampire all on his own and he wasn't about to ask Buffy for help. Or anyone else for that matter. He didn't want to answer a whole lot of questions. Bad enough, Spike was probably going to be asking a lot of those very same questions himself when he woke up.

And judging from the noises coming from behind him? He was going to be answering those questions any time now. He set his can of coke aside and stood to face the music.

Spike was peering groggily around in the darkness but stopped when he spotted Xander standing guiltily beside his resting place.

Xander tried on a small smile which felt far too forced to be anything but fake. "Hey Spike. Feeling better?"

Spike squinted back. "Thought I'd dreamt you."

Xander shuffled his feet and tried to think of something witty to say. "Do you do that often? Dream of me?" WTF? Oh yeah. That was real smooth. Sometimes he really wished he could find the disengage switch for his mouth.

"You kissed me," Spike accused, complete with pointing finger.

Yep. That switch would come in real handy. Any time now. When he'd decided he wanted this, he'd also decided to be honest. Course he'd thought it would be in a few days. He steeled himself as best he could and met Spike's challenging gaze. "I did," he admitted.

Spike pushed up on his elbows. He looked confused. "And Demon girl?"

"Anya left," Xander explained easily, the hurt of a lost love already faded. Discovering Anya made a far better friend had helped immensely. "What Glory did to you and Tara really freaked her out. She said it made her question what she wanted out of her life. She didn't want to waste it." He didn't add how much it had caused him to question his own life and what he wanted.

"So what? You just move right on to the next available demon? You've suddenly got the hots for yours truly? Somehow I don't believe that and I don't fancy being some kind of consolation prize."

"No, I didn't just move right on. You're right there. Anya was ...special and wonderful. But I didn't love her. Not really. We kinda fell into a relationship together. It was comfortable and easy. When she told me she was leaving I tried to talk her out of it. I told her I loved her and wanted to marry her. She called me on my bullshit and told me to be a man and go after what I really wanted."

"And I'm supposed to believe that's me?" Spike snapped. "Didn't just crawl outta the grave."

Xander could totally understand why Spike would question his honesty. He had no idea how to convince the vampire he was telling the truth, so he didn't bother. Now it was time to put Anya's words of wisdom to the test. "Believe what you want," he said with a shrug before stooping to gather his belongings. "I'm going back to my apartment." Xander stood back up with the large box in his arms. Spike was sitting on the blanket and the pillow still held the indent where the vampire's head had rested. Xander didn't bother to collect them. "You are welcome to come with me or you can stay here," he offered, inflecting as much sincerity into his voice as he could. "Choice is yours."

"You serious?"

"As serious as a watcher researching the latest apocalypse."

Spike nodded and slid carefully from his perch. "All right then."

Xander could hardly believe it. Anya had been right after all. He so owed her one. "You're coming?" He saw Spike's eyebrows start to rise and replayed what he'd just said in his head. He blushed hotly and nearly dropped the box in his arms. "No! Not what I meant."

Spike shuffled slowly closer. "I'm disappointed, pet."

Xander stared at Spike's pouting lower lip and wondered how the hell Spike could make beaten to a pulp look so damn sexy. He felt a stirring in his crotch and was glad he'd decided to forgo the tight jeans as a totally useless attempt at seduction. He blushed again, spun and headed for the door. He kept his pace slow so Spike could keep up. Not having to actually look the vampire in the eye bolstered his courage and he couldn't resist throwing a cheeky, flirty comment over his shoulder. "You won't be later."

He could hear Spike's laughter behind him. "Is that a promise?"

"Two words, Spike," Xander said, feeling more confident. He slid one hand out from under the box and held two fingers triumphantly in the air. "Viking and sack, my fanged friend. Viking and sack."

~ Mòran taing ~