It had been a few weeks since anything exciting had been happening in Sunnydale, and it had also been a week since Xander had broken his arm on a job site.
Xander still couldn't believe it had been broken from him falling from the second story of the building under construction by his company. He would much rather have had it been broken from fighting demons or some new big bad.
Though still off pissed at his boss for forcing him to take time off to heal, he was grateful to still be getting paid for overseeing their ongoing project.
Having been cooped up in his apartment for nearly the whole week, Xander was beginning to get cabin fever.
Neither of his best friends had been by to visit him, even if they were busy fighting the forces of evil, they could at least call him.
--
Xander was laid out on his couch, mindlessly channel surfing as he tried to take his mind off the pain radiating through his arm.
I wonder what Buffy and Willow are up to? He thought to himself, shifting onto his back and staring up at the living room ceiling.
A suddenly loud knock at the door startled him from his thoughts, he wasn't expecting anyone and as far as he could remember, hadn't ordered any food.
Though it was hard to straighten his thoughts when he was still feeling foggy from the pain medication the doctor had sent home with him.
"Coming!" he called out, making his way to the door and pulling it open to reveal who had knocked. He was caught off guard for a moment at the sight before him.
Spike stood in the doorway, hands full of what Xander could only guess were bags of take out, and possibly blood but he could only assume such.
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Xander questioned, not at all hiding the sincere curiosity in his voice.
"Red told me you were stuck at home, thought I'd do me good deed for the night and drop off some nummies for you," Spike responded, holding the bags up in front of Xander's face.
"Well, that's actually very nice of you," Xander held his good hand out to take the bags from Spike when the vamp pulled away from his reach.
"You're injured, I can bring these in... If you invite me to," Spike offered, looking into Xander's eyes.
They stood there for a moment in awkward silence before Xander reluctantly gave in to the blond's request.
"Come on in, Spike... But don't try anything, I may have a broken arm but I can still dust you if I have to," Xander responded, wiggling the fingers on his good hand.
"Right... Got it," Spike entered the living room and made his way over towards the coffee table in front of the couch, setting down the plastic bags.
He turned around in time to see Xander digging a bottle out of the pocket of his sweat pants.
"What'cha got there?" he asked, watching Xander struggle to pop the lid off the bottle.
"Just something for the pain," Xander continued to struggle for a moment before finally opening the bottle, he shook out a small white pill into his palm before popping it into his mouth and swallowing without effort.
Spike watched as Xander made his way to the couch, flopping down onto the cushions and adjusting himself into a sitting position that had him propped up against the back and side of the couch.
"Guess I'll see myself out then, yeah?" Spike cleared his throat, reminding Xander of his presence in front of coffee table.
Xander stared up at the taller man, the edges of his vision starting to go fuzzy again as he watched Spike staring back at him.
When Xander didn't try to stop him, Spike began towards the door when a sudden noise from Xander caught his attention.
Xander went wide-eyed when he realized he'd been the one who had made that sound, suddenly looking up at Spike bewildered.
"W-would you like to stay for a bit?" he finally managed to get out, quickly looking away from Spike as he mentally prepared himself for the vampire to reject the offer.
"S'pose I could stick around, not much to do tonight," Spike answered before dropping himself down onto the opposite end of the couch.
He could sense the embarrassment coming from Xander, which made him feel a bit awkward.
The two sat in near silence, aside from the faint conversation coming from the TV in front of them, which was also the only source of light in the apartment.
"So what'd you bring me?" Xander suddenly spoke, having leaned forward to the tear open the bags still on the coffee table.
"Just whatever Red told me you might enjoy, though I wasn't sure what exactly to get..."
"So I sorta got a little bit of everything," Spike explained as he watched Xander unpack the contents of each bag and set them out on the coffee table.
Xander peaked through the containers to exam what all Spike had brought him before stopping at the last container, quickly sealing it back up before passing it to the vamp with a look of disgust on his face.
"Sorry, must've forgot to take that one out before I got here," Spike apologized sheepishly as he accepted the container.
"Don't worry, it's cow blood," he held up the container, looking back at Xander as a laugh slipped from his lips.
Xander said nothing in response, he was now focusing on the contents of the container he had opened and began digging into. Unaware of just how intently Spike was now watching him with interest.
"You got anything to drink around here?" Spike inquired, getting Xander's attention from his food.
"Should be a couple beers in the fridge..." Xander responded quietly, suddenly embarrassed by the thought of Spike going through his stuff.
Spike stood from the couch and rounded the half wall that separated the living room and kitchen, cracking open the fridge and grabbing a couple beers from inside the door.
He returned to the couch with beers in hand, setting one down in front of him before popping open the one still in his hand and taking a long swig.
"Oh, did you want one?" Spike asked when he noticed Xander eyeing the second beer on the table.
"No, definitely not..."
"I shouldn't drink with this medication,"
Spike went still for a moment at Xander's response, realizing what he had just said and groaning inward at his stupidity.
"Right, sorry, wasn't thinking," Spike gave Xander a shy smile before chugging the rest of the beer he still had a hold of.
Xander shook his head, unable to help the nervous laugh escaping his mouth.
"This may be the meds talking, but I'm kinda glad you're here," Xander admitted, returning his attention to his food.
"I'll be honest, I had nothing better to do, so figured why not," Spike responded sincerely without looking at Xander, as he reached for his second beer.
"So I guess there hasn't been much going on as far as Scooby duty is concerned?"
Spike quirked up an eyebrow at Xander's question, before nodding in response with the beer bottle still raised to his lips.
"Buffy hasn't been busy with the slaying, I mean," Xander quickly explained, having noticed Spike looking confused.
"It's been unusually quiet, what with living on the Hellmouth and all," Spike answered with a shrug, setting the now empty beer bottle next to the first one.
"I figured she and Willow had been too busy with patrol to come visit, guess I was wrong..." Xander let out a sigh, dropping the container of food from his hand onto the table.
"They've been helping out at the Magic box, doing inventory and whatnot," Spike responded, suddenly feeling bad for the younger man.
"Oh, right... I forgot about that,"
"This past week has been a blur, just sulking around like a wounded puppy," Xander gestured at his arm bound up in the sling over his shoulder.
Xander leaned back against the couch, his eyes fluttering half-closed as the pain killer he had taken was starting to affect him.
"Maybe we should get you to bed, mate," Spike offered quickly standing up, moving to stand in front of Xander.
He extended his arms to lift Xander to his feet, Xander accepted the help and grabbed onto Spike with his non-injured arm.
Xander suddenly stumbled forward, knocking the both of them over, crashing to the floor with a thud. Spike still had his arms wrapped around Xander's waist, Xander still had his arm around Spike's neck.
They stayed motionless for a minute, their faces inches apart. Xander made an attempt to stand up, but found himself trapped by Spike's vampire grip.
"Uh... Spike?" Xander began, was cut off when his lips were unexpectedly covered by Spike's. His eyes shot open, panic and confusion plastered across his face.
He pulled away, using all the strength in his good arm to push himself off of Spike and move back into a sitting position between Spike's legs.
Spike sat up rubbing the back of his head, looking at Xander with a sheepish smile. He didn't quite understand what had compelled him to kiss Xander.
"Sorry 'bout that," Spike shifted himself into a sitting position, waiting for Xander to say something.
Without hesitation Xander leaned forward, crushing his lips against Spike's as he grasped the back of his head, sinking his fingers into platinum blond hair.
Spike laced his arms around Xander's neck, deepening the kiss further as he urged him to straddle his lap. He was relieved when Xander eagerly accepted the invitation.
Now straddling Spike's legs between his thighs, Xander could feel the vampire's erection through his tight jeans brushing against his own through the soft fabric of his sweatpants.
"What are we doing, Spike?" Xander had broken the kiss to look into Spike's icy blue eyes, his breathing heavy from the intimate moment.
"Snogging?" Spike looked up at Xander, confusion present on his expression, and Xander could swear he saw lust in Spike's eyes.
"But aren't you dating Buffy?"
Spike scoffed audibly at the question, his eyes almost rolling out of their sockets as he tried to keep from bursting out laughing.
"You think I would date that stuck up bitch?" Spike practically growled.
"She's one of my best friends, ya' know... And it was a simple yes or no question,"
"Don't get so offended," Xander pushed himself up from Spike's lap and moved to sit down on the couch behind him, leaving Spike sitting on the floor.
Spike looked up at Xander, who now had an expression of anger and hurt on his face, which made Spike to regret his reaction to his question.
"Look, I'm sorry... Truly," Spike shifted himself onto his knees in front of Xander, hanging his head in shame. He felt like he had just ruined a good moment by being a pompous arse.
"I will admit she and I have shagged in the past, but I never dated her," Spike forced himself to look up again, wondering if being honest about fucking Buffy was the best thing to do in this moment.
"I remember..." Xander responded quietly, furrowing his brow at the memory of discovering Buffy had slept the vamp.
"But I always sorta fancied you, ya' big git..." Spike smacked his hand on Xander's good arm, in what Xander determined was a playful manner.
"Seriously?"
Spike leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of Xander's hips and lifted himself up to press his lips together with Xander's, this time in a more passionate way.
Xander closed his eyes and melted into the soft kiss, his hand reaching for the back of Spike's head again.
They stayed there for what felt like several minutes, enjoying the feeling of the other's lips as hands blindly sought out for anything to hold onto.
Spike slowly stood to his feet without breaking their embrace, encouraging Xander to stand from the couch as he went. Xander allowed himself to be pulled up so that they were now standing, still kissing one another.