At some time during the night Xander shifted in bed, and his still-asleep mind registered that there was a warm male body holding him. He snuggled against them, caught in memories and dreams. "Char," he murmured with a smile, as slumber pulled him deeper into dreams.
"""
"Hey, are you okay?" The world was shaking. Dru opened her eyes to see a boy, like her kitten but not her kitten. His hand was on her shoulder, waking her up from the deep darks that her poem had sent her too. Her seashell had grown sharp without her, shattered into pieces that prickled and poked.
"My kittens ran away." she pouted to the nice boy who had woken her before the sun could.
"I'm sorry," the boy replied, extending a hand to help her up. "Are you okay? Were you attacked?"
Drusilla accepted his hand and stood, swaying a little on her feet. "Yes, I was attacked... naughty kittens with sharp claws were mean to their mummy." She smiled at the boy. "What's your name?"
"Jesse." he replied warily, beginning to get weirded out.
Drusilla noticed a tiny scar on his neck, and touched it. "You were bitten!"
Jesse frowned. "Yeah, some blonde freak a couple years back did that."
"You were tasted by Grandmother." she murmured. "You were to be her prize, a little worm wriggling on a hook, and gift for Great Grandfather." She caressed his cheek, and fear kept him from moving away. "They're both dust now, but you can still fulfill your destiny." Jesse didn't even have time to scream before Drusilla sank her fangs in his neck.
"""
Xander awoke feeling refreshed and content. The ghost of an embrace still lingered on his skin, and it was the first time he'd woken up happy for several months. He noticed Spike was still fast asleep in the bean-bag chair, and he quietly got dressed. He was opening his bedroom door when Spike spoke.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Xander glanced at him. "You might've been some kind of supernatural creature, but I'm a human and humans have school during the week. It's mandatory."
In a move way more graceful that Xander had ever managed to perfect out of that particular chair, Spike stood. "I'll accompany you."
"What?" Xander exclaimed, "Why?"
Spike lifted any eyebrow as if the answer was obvious. "Can't have you running off until you reverse this spell."
"Yeah, but..." Xander shifted uncomfortably. Maybe he could drop by the shop and George would have some kind of anti-healing blood. "What makes you think the teachers will let you sit in classes with me?"
Spike grinned, slinging an arm over his shoulders, and spoke in an extremely bad Texan accent. "I'm an old pal of Xander's here, just moved to the area and thought I'd check out the school."
Xander cracked up laughing. "Can your accent be any more fake?"
"""
To Xander's shock, Spike fit right in at school. His charm was more than enough to win over the females, and he had a kind of violently dangerous vibe that made even Larry stay away from them. Although, when Spike slung his arm around Xander's shoulders in the middle of the student commons, a strange kind of surprised understanding blossomed in Larry's eyes, that was scary in and of itself. Xander really didn't need another school year where his sexuality was the main topic of the gossip mill, and quickly shrugged off Spike's arm. The teachers were impressed by his knowledge, the girls all wanted him, and the boys all respected him. And to Xander's surprise, he was bumped up a few rungs of the social ladder by association.
Xander wondered what kind of drugs the cafeteria ladies had slipped into the food this week. He was just settling on either hallucinogens or animal tranquilizers when Willow sought him out in the cafeteria. "Hey Xander?"
"Willow, hi." Xander said, surprised as she sat down next to him. They'd been close friends as children, but their relationship had kind of faded to nonexistent in the last couple years. He stirred the mashed potatoes around and around in a tiny circle on his plate, waiting for Willow to explain herself.
Willow glanced at Spike, who was sitting on Xander's other side and chowing down on his serving of Meatloaf Surprise, and then back at Xander. "I know we aren't all that close anymore, but have you seen Jesse anywhere? He hasn't shown up at all today."
He could still read her expressions as clear as ever, and could tell that she was upset and worried, but he couldn't help getting in a little dig at her. "You mean, Mr. Homophobe? Funny how he was the first one to push me into the ground when it was going around school that I was gay, but when you and Amy started sucking face, he was all supporto-guy."
She winced. "Xander, it wasn't like that--"
"Yes it was!" Xander exclaimed, his voice slightly louder than he meant it to be. Spike glanced up and looked at them, assessing the situation. Xander sighed and passed his serving of meatloaf to Spike, who quickly dug in. Xander turned back to Willow, and continued in a much calmer voice, "Yes, it was, and you know it."
"No it wasn't!" Willow shot back, "Jesse didn't like it at all when I came out either, but after a few days he got used to it. If you had just given him time to adjust instead of continuously giving him the cold shoulder--"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess it's hard not to give someone the cold shoulder when they smash your face into the dirt and call you a fag every time they see you." Xander retorted.
"Fine." Willow said, standing up. "I can see you're in no state of mind to have a civil conversation. If you see Jesse and you still possess the ability to speak while he's beating you to a pulp, please tell him I'm looking for him." And with that she stormed off.
"Bitch." Xander muttered after her.
"""
TBC...