Spoiled & Rotten Spoiled & Rotten Chapter 11 Angel and Xander just stared in horror at Buffy. She tried to speak but couldn't get much more out than a raspy cough.

"Go get a doctor." Angel instructed Xander, his gaze fixed on Buffy.

Xander stood and ran from the room. Angel rose shakily to his feet and approached the furious Slayer in trepidation.

"Buffy, I don't know if you remember what happened but you're in the hospital."

Buffy tried again to speak but was having great difficulty forming words with her dry and bruised vocal chords. She seemed to get more agitated with every attempt.

Angel hastened to calm her. "It's okay. Don't try and talk. The doctor—"

"Im-por-tant." She was able to manage a word. Buffy relaxed slightly against the pillow, relieved that she was still capable of speech.

Angel stood by the side of the bed and took her hand. "Important? You have something important to tell me?" He leaned in close, straining to hear.

Slowly, laboring for every syllable, Buffy choked out a few words. "You...sh-should've...stayed in H-hell." Buffy managed to pull her hand away from Angel's and she closed her eyes, shutting him out.

A team of medical personnel breezed into the room, Xander trailing behind them. The doctor went to examine Buffy, chattering happily. Xander took one look at the shattered expression on Angel's face and knew that something had transpired while he was out of the room. He quietly walked across the room, careful to avoid the staff running in and out, and took Angel's hand.

"Let's go, Angel."

Angel remained silent, withdrawn. Xander tugged gently at his hand and Angel looked over at him. Xander felt something inside him begin to ache as he looked in Angel's eyes. They seemed so lost and sad. Xander tugged at Angel's hand again. "We should get out of the way. Let's go call everyone."

Angel followed Xander out of the room. As he crossed the threshold, he felt Buffy's eyes on him. He moved to glance back at her and Xander pulled him sharply into the hallway.

The two men walked down the corridor in silence. Finally, Angel asked him, "Why did you do that? Pull me out of the room?"

Xander stopped and shook his head. "I thought you of all people would know better than that."

"What?"

"You never look back."

With that, Xander turned on his heel and strode out of the hospital.

* * * * *

A shell-shocked Angel walked down the stairs behind Xander into the basement. Xander had left the hospital and retrieved Angel's car. He carefully managed to transport him through the very sunny town without any body parts bursting into flame.

Xander led him over to the bed and took his coat. He called Giles and Willow and then puttered around the apartment. He'd had Willow drop off some blood earlier and now he heated it, encouraging Angel to feed. He wandered around the basement, straightening the room and generally fussing over the vampire.

Angel's thick fog of guilt and despair was slowly being lifted by the soothing normalcy of it all. As his mind cleared, he reached out to halt Xander's progress as the young man walked past him. "Are you okay?"

Xander seemed confused by the question as he sat down next to Angel. "I'm fine. I'm not the one who looks like someone ran over my puppy and then backed over it again."

Angel shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "She hates me. It was clear. I can't blame her. But I never meant for her—"

"I know. I know. You never meant for her to find out about us."

It happened so fast that Xander wasn't even aware of Angel's movements until he found himself on his back, pressed into the mattress beneath a very agitated Angel.

"That's not what I meant!"

Rule Number One: Don't anger the emotionally unstable vampire, Xander thought. "Ah...okay."

Angel realized that he was making Xander more than a little anxious. He deliberately softened his expression. His hand reached up to caress Xander's temple. "I would have told her. I just didn't want her to find out like that way. I can't imagine a more painful way than this."

Relieved, Xander slid a hand along Angel's back, softly tracing the contours hidden by his shirt. "She could have walked in on us having sex. That would have been worse." He supplied helpfully.

Angel dropped his head against Xander's shoulder, burying his face in Xander's neck. His body was trembling. Xander started to soothe him and then he realized, "You're laughing!" Angel only laughed harder and Xander soon followed.

As their laughter subsided, they lay quietly together for a moment. Angel rolled onto his back, pulling Xander with him. He pressed his lips to the top of Xander's head. "I would have told her, you know."

"I know."

Angel placed his hand under Xander's chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. "I would have told her."

Xander was shocked by the Angel's obvious sincerity. He couldn't recall anyone every looking at him that way. So serious. He realized that Angel meant what he was saying. He would have told Buffy the truth, pointy sticks and crossbows be damned. "I believe you. But the way you looked—"

"She told me I should have stayed in Hell." Angel replied softly.

Xander's response was venomous. "That fucking bitch!"

"She's hurt, Xander. And you know how Buffy handles emotional anguish--"

"She pummels things," Xander finished. He grinned at Angel. "I guess we're lucky she was in a hospital bed when she found out, huh?"

They both fell silent, grimacing at the notion of what a fully operational Slayer's reaction might have been. Then, Xander asked the question that had been plaguing his thoughts. "What now?"

"Sun'll be down in a few hours." Angel ventured.

"Yeah."

"Nice night for a drive south."

"LA? You want me to come back to LA with you?" Xander's face lit up and then fell a split second later as he remembered. "My car. I need to drive back with you to get my car."

Puzzled, Angel frowned at him. "Well, yes, but I thought you might want to stay a while. I know things in Sunnydale haven't been that great for you lately. Maybe you could give my town a try and see if you like it any better."

"You want me to come back to LA with you?" Xander repeated.

Angel was a little unnerved by Xander's reaction. This wasn't the reaction he was hoping for. He stumbled over his words as he babbled. "It would be a lot easier to figure out what's between us if there's wasn't a three hour drive in the way. And I could use your help in the office. Cordelia keeps trying to turn me into this superhero. She says it'll drum up business. If she mentions the word tights one more time—"

"So you want me to be like the Robin to your Batman routine? Oh wait, you already have Wesley. He's your Robin."

"No. Wesley is Alfred." Angel replied emphatically.

"I gotta tell you it's going to be a hardship giving up my budding career in the food services industry to go play action figure...but I'm thinking there are perks to the job."

Angel leaned down and kissed Xander softly. "I'm sure we can come up with an adequate benefits package."

Xander rolled more fully atop Angel and nuzzled at his neck. "We've a got a few more hours until we can leave."

Angel smiled wickedly. "Any idea how we can kill the time?"

"Yep! You can help me pack." Xander hopped off the bed and started hunting around for boxes, leaving a thoroughly frustrated vampire lying on the bed. He glanced up as Angel called out to him.

"Hey, Xander. Remember how I said there were moments that I wanted to wring your neck?"

"Yeah?"

"This is one of those moments."