The Pack: Accidentally in Love

Chapter Three

Yup, Tor was worried.

He wasn't slow. He knew that something majorly weird had just happened, and he also knew that it had centered on Kyle and Xander. That wasn't what worried him. This was Sunnydale. These things just happened. Kyle was the one really freaking him out. Kyle might be pretty good at hiding what was going on, but Tor was even better at seeking.

So, yeah, Tor was worried.

"Hey, uh, Kyle?"

Kyle turned around and regarded him. "Yes?"

"You…doing anything tonight?" Okay, so Tor might be perceptive, that didn't mean he was good at expressing things. I'm here for you, man or You know we can talk about it any time, right?—These were the things he wanted say. Instead, he just said, "Wanna hang out?"

Eh, close enough. So he wasn't very eloquent, bug deal. Kyle knew what he meant. They were close like that.

"No."

Well la deed a, then. If Kyle didn't want his support, he didn't have to be rude about it. Manners, please! Tor proceeded to have an entirely internal hissy fit. Kyle didn't seem to notice or care. That just ticked Tor off. Even rudeness was better than being ignored. He was going to have to get drastic.

"So, how was Xander?"

Kyle choked and stopped walking briefly.

Tor continued. "His ass every bit as good as you dreamed?"

Because, yes, Tor knew about Kyle's little crush on Xander. He thought it was just adorable, though, momentarily, annoying as all fuck. Actually, he was pretty sure everyone knew, except maybe Harris himself. Heidi and Rhonda for sure. He did a mental salute to his two favorite lesbians and the awesomeness of them even considering letting him watch. He was even pretty sure that Xander's redhead knew. She was a sharp one. Hot too. And her plus Heidi and Rhonda? Wasn't that a pretty picture.

"I don't want to talk about it." Kyle's voice shook him from his very happy place. "I don't want to think about it. As far as I am concerned, none of this ever happened."

Harsh.

*

He hadn't meant to hang up on Willow, it had just happened.

Kyle loved him.

Okay, love might be too strong a word. Kyle really liked him. For real. Weird. He did have to admit that it explained a lot, though. Why Kyle had hated him, why he picked on him, why Kyle just cared so fucking much. It was all there, and Xander considered it perfectly understandable that he was having trouble adjusting.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd thought that someone other than Willow might love him. And now she was saying that Kyle loved him. The selfish little part of him that still remembered happy birthdays and toys on Christmas said to grab hold of Kyle and never let go. But even he knew that doing so wouldn't be fair to Kyle himself. Xander didn't love him back, and he couldn't do that to Kyle. He'd seen what it had done to his own parents.

Also, not gay.

Xander was dragged out of his reverie by the sound of the front door opening. Suddenly glad that he had managed to get at least kind of dressed, he waited in the kitchen to see the damage. He rather wished he might have thought to pick up the house a bit, and that he didn't still smell of the big gay sex.

His mother trudged into the kitchen and threw her purse down on the table. Her makeup was streaked; she'd been crying. This couldn't be good. Xander braced himself for the onslaught.

To his surprise, it was not forthcoming. Instead, his mother slumped into a chair and started sobbing. He didn't know what to do. His family had never been a particularly demonstrative one, and he could count on one hand the number of times he'd actually seen his mother cry sober.

He sat down at the table across from her, and reached around the bag to pat her hand awkwardly. Willow would be better at this. Hell, Giles would be better! But they weren't here, unfortunately, and he would just have to try his inadequate best. "Mom?" he started, "do you want me to get the tissues?" Okay, so that wasn't the smoothest phrase to begin with.

His mom just snuffled and did not respond. He continued patting her hand slowly and contemplated getting up and grabbing the tissues anyways. Before he could leave his seat, however, his mother spoke, her voice hoarse with tears and cigarettes.

"Your father is in jail," she said. He held his breath. "The jury was fixed against him, the bastards. He didn't even have a shot." Here she stood up and began fixing a drink for herself, the panacea of the Harris household.

Xander shuddered and bit the bullet. "How long did he get?" He wasn't sure what answer he even wanted to hear. Either one could be bad. Dad in jail meant dad wasn't home, but it also meant that he wasn't working, which was possibly worse. He stared at his mother's back and willed it to be some sort of good news.

"He got ten years," she said, without even turning.

Well, fuck.

*

Kyle punched Tor. He aimed for Tor's face and was surprised by how easy it was to hit it. How easy it was to punch his oldest friend. Briefly, he wondered if this was how Xander had felt when he punched Willow. It felt kind of good, cathartic, even, like he was getting twelve years of frustration out in one blow. It also felt like he'd broken Tor's nose. Oops?

"Son of a whore!" Tor yelled, clutching his nose and staring absently at the blood coating his hand. "Way to manage your anger, prick!"

Kyle really had no idea what he should be doing right now. Should he help Tor? What was the protocol for punching your best friend in the face? Contrary to general assumption, Kyle didn't really make a habit of punching people. He didn't have to beat people up. He reputation was good, or perhaps bad, enough, that he could bully on words alone. So, this? This was new. Also, his hand hurt.

As it turned out, though, he didn't need to help Tor up. The other boy had pulled himself up on his own, and was now glaring bloody murder at him. Kyle smiled back.

"You are one crazy SOB, you know that?" said Tor, the tide of blood from his nose ebbing slightly. Kyle smiled wider. He really did feel better now.

"Should we go to the ER?" he asked. "Make sure I didn't do any permanent damage? Cause we know you can't afford that!"

Tor laughed and slapped his back. "Alright, I get it," he said. "I'll stop bugging you about your gay love."

"Thank you," said Kyle, delicately picking through his pockets for a tissue or something to give Tor. There really was quite a lot of blood. He found one and handed it over.

"You know," said Tor, sopping at the blood with a napkin, "the girls will never let us live this down if they find out."

"Oh my god!" Kyle said in falsetto. "You guys hit each other? Why can't you just talk about your feelings like normal people?"

"Add in some indiscriminate screeching," Tor said, "and I think you've got it."

"So," said Kyle. "We cool?"

"Of course!" scoffed Tor. "We're guys. We do that."

"Good," said Kyle. "Because you're sort of right about that whole gay love thing."

*

"Ten years?" Xander repeated dumbly. "Isn't that sort of excessive?"

His mother snorted into her gin. "Of course it is, kid. Without you there, and where the fuck were you, by the way? But without you there, the jury didn't see that he's really a good family man, and they crucified him for it."

He gaped. "Are you saying this is all my fault?"

She thought about it for a moment, then smiled nastily at him. Her fingers caressed the glass. "Yes, I think it is."

He waited for her to continue. With an introduction like that, it couldn't be good.

It wasn't.

"Xander, I think it's time for you to part ways with this family."