Disclaimer: Don't own them. Joss Whedon and his people do.

Rating for this chapter: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of physical abuse and mental abuse.

Author's Rant: I went to see Alexander over the weekend with my husband. That's what I love about the states, movies come to the cinema sooner. Yes, I know I am a guy but can someone please tell me why when Harrison asked what I thought about Colin Farrell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers he got all pissy when I told him they looked good. Okay, I'm good now. By the way, I just started a Yahoo group for updates of my fics. You can join by going to my profile.

Chapter 4:

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and, so far, it was perfect. There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong, maybe. Two tousled tufts of brown hair stuck out from under the blanket on the bed. Soft, muffled endearments and the occasional gasp filled the air as Xander and Angel relaxed in bed, hands trailing over exposed skin. Smirking sweetly, Angel's fingers walked their way down his lover's body before finally coming to settle, pressing lightly against his fully stretched entrance. He giggled as Xander writhed against his hand.

"Angel, I love you but after last night and this morning, I seriously doubt I'll ever get it up again." Xander chuckled. He let out a startled gasp as the vampire thrust two fingers inside him.

Angel ignored him. When he wasn't getting much of a response from his lover, Angel moved between Xander's legs and pushed himself hard into the younger man's entrance which, luckily, was slicked with a fair amount of semen and lubricant. He grinned, loving it when Xander attempted to get away.

"Angel, come on, stop." Xander pleaded. His body was too sensitive from their numerous bouts of sex in the hours before and he was past discomfort and in a bit of pain. "Get off!" The brunette forcefully shoved the vampire off of him and jumped up from the bed, pulling on whatever clothing he could find as he hastily left the bedroom.

Angel's anger flared as his lover, yet again, pushed him away. Growling, Angel got out of bed and stomped after Xander not caring one bit that he was naked. "What the fuck is your problem?!" He shouted, eyeing Xander who stood with a mug of coffee in his hand, leaning against the counter.

"My problem? My problem?!You completely ignored me! I didn't want to have sex but obviously what I want means absolutely nothing in your little world, does it?" Xander's arms were flailing, his mug crashing against the wall in the middle of his tirade.

"Clean it up." Angel demanded. When Xander did nothing Angel lost it. "Listen here, Alexander. When I tell you to do something, I expect it done…and promptly." His voice was low and cold and it sent a shiver of fear down Xander's spine as he backed his young lover against the wall. His hands were gripping Xander's forearms so tight that the former Scooby knew dark bruises would be forming. "You need me. If I hadn't offered you a job when you arrived in LA, who knows where you would be now. You should be thankful that I decided to take you in. You'd be asking 'would you like fries with that?' about now if it weren't for me."

"Let go of me, Angel." And, surprisingly, Angel did let go of Xander's arms.

"You know, you're lucky you have me. No one else would love you, you're too fat…Now clean up that mess!"

Xander reluctantly began picking up the pieces of his shattered mug. This was a normal day for the couple. Xander thought about how lucky he was to have gotten off this easy. Now he knew where that whole Irish temper thing came from. In the past few months they had been together, Xander had suffered numerous injuries at the hand of his lover, not that he would tell anyone about it though. It was only sometimes, anyway. Most of the time, Angel was the perfect boyfriend. There were times when they would lie in on Saturdays and do nothing but talk and kiss. Yeah, it was cheesy and a bit girly but it was nice. It was times like those that made Xander completely forget all the bad times. In Xander's mind, the good far outweighed the bad.

Xander had just finished sopping up the spilt coffee when Angel came back into the room in a pair of Xander's boxers. Angel wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. "I'm sorry about before. You know how I get. I didn't mean it, Xander. I do love you, though. I'm drawing a bath for us, if you'd care to join me." He pressed a kiss to the young man's temple and slipped Xander's hand into his. Xander turned and smiled.

Despite Angel's drastic mood changes and excitability, Xander could hardly ever say 'no' to him when he was so sweet. He let Angel lead him into the large bathroom and undress him. For nearly an hour, the two men relaxed in the hot bath taking turns washing each other.

"I've been the worst boyfriend lately, haven't I?" Angel sighed, tightening his hold on Xander. "I'll be better, you'll see." Leaning over a pile of towels, Angel found the little lack pouch he was looking for. Nervously, Xander watched as Angel tipped the contents of the pouch into his free hand and took hold of Xander's hand. "Stay with me forever." It was more of a command than anything and before he could respond, a silver claddagh ring was slipped onto his finger.

"That's your idea of a proposal?" Xander laughed.

Angel laughed and kissed him happily. "That's a 'yes,' right?" Xander nodded and soon found himself scooped up in Angel's arms and carried into their bedroom.

Co-workers celebrated the announcement of their boss' engagement for the next two days, offering words of congratulations to both men. None of the employees of Wolfram & Hart had seen either man so happy.

"Oh, it's so romantic! Just like a fairy tale!" Spike mocked in a high falsetto as he swooned into a chair by Xander's desk, breaking into a fit of laughter. "So, everything's peachy in paradise again?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Xander groaned, his hands hitting several small stacks of papers on his desk. "I have to get these reports to Gunn in, oh, about two hours." Spike got the message and got up, leaving his friend to finish his work. Xander sighed in relief. Finally, he thought, I can get some work done.