Title: Facing Their Pasts 3/9+Epilogue
Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: A Sequel to 'Imprisonments'. The past comes back for both boys.
Warnings/Spoilers: Human verse and OOC
Beta'd by: Whichclothes

Part Three

William and Elliot went to a local bistro, much to Elliot's distaste. William merely shrugged and said he liked the onion blossoms. They ordered their drinks and food; after the waitress left they sat there in an uncomfortable silence.

"Why did you come here, Dad?" William asked. He had been trying to figure it out, but no answers came.

"You've been out of jail for a while. It seems like you've finally put your head on straight." Elliot commented. "Too bad you couldn't have done that at home."

William ducked his head. "It was a hard time, with Mum being sick."

"Please, William," Elliot dismissed his excuses. "It was long before your mother got ill. The staying out all night and the revolving door to your bedroom." He ticked off points on his slender fingers. "The drinking started after your mother passed."

"I'm surprised you even noticed," William snarled. If his father wanted a fight then he would have one. "You never gave a bloody damn about me. You didn't even care about mum!"

Elliot's eyes narrowed. "I loved your mother!"

"Yeah, that's why you weren't even with us when she died, right? You couldn't even spend her last day on earth with us," William accused.

"You don't understand," Elliot said with a sigh. "I was married to your mother for twenty years. We were together for two years before that. I spent half of my life in love with one woman. Do you know how hard it was to see her like that? Every day she was getting weaker and so was I. I couldn't watch her die, William. Hate me if you must but don't ever say I didn't love her… that I don't love you. I may not have always showed it but I do." His voice cracked.

William stared at his father. Never had he seen his father get so choked up, not even when his mother died. He realized that back then his father was trying to hold it together… for him. And he screwed it all up and lost ten years with the only family he had left.

"I am such a fuck-up," William confessed, his voice cracking as well.

Elliot got off of his chair and moved over to William, pulling him in a hug. "You're not a fuck-up, William. You were just lost."

It was after midnight when William finally returned home. He'd never before had spent so much time talking with his father without a screaming match. When he walked into the living room the television station was off the air; a low buzzing hummed from the set. Then a loud snort came, revealing that Xander had fallen asleep on the couch. Several more snorts came that made William smile. He picked up the control that had fallen on the floor and turned the TV off.

Xander jerked awake. "Will?" he asked groggily. Xander removed his eye patch. The skin under the band itched.

"Yeah, Xan." William settled beside Xander and ran a hand through the tousled hair. He also rubbed the side of Xander's face knowing that when Xander fell asleep with the patch on it gave him a slight headache. "Did you catch up on South Park?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah… your dad thinks I'm a total loser." Xander leaned back miserably.

William kissed Xander for the first time since Xander had upset him. "No he doesn't. He knows what you did for me."

Xander kissed him back. "Does he know about…?" He pointed to his sunken-in eye. It had taken William over a month to convince Xander to let him see it. William reassured him that it wasn't going to make him run away from this relationship. It wasn't actually that bad, minimal scarring. It wasn't as bad as Xander made it out to be.

"I told him," William confirmed. "He wondered what happened. Do you mind that I told him?"

"No, better you than me," Xander confessed. He didn't like too many people to know but Elliot was kind of like family now.

"Let's head to bed." William stood and made his way to Xander's room.

Xander stared after him before calling out. "Where are you going?"

William turned around, his head tilted. "You don't want me to sleep in your bed?"

"No… I mean yes. What I mean is you want to?" Xander babbled.

"Well, you still owe me the second part of my birthday gift." William said, staring at Xander and waited for Xander to join him.

Xander looked absolutely confused. "I thought you were mad at me."

"Not mad, disappointed," William clarified. "And I was, until I talked to my dad. Things aren't perfect but… it's better than it has been. Now do you want to talk about my dad or do you want to…" he bobbed his head towards the bedroom.

"Right. You can tell me about dinner tomorrow," Xander replied and joined William.

"We will also be talking about not going behind each other's backs and making decisions without the other one knowing about it," William said and wrapped his arms around Xander. "Even if we think it's for the greater good."

Xander ducked his head. "I really am sorry. It's just I love you and I wanted to help."

"I know, pet. I love you too, but no more of this. It'll only piss me off," William declared. "And the last thing I want is to fight with you. I've spent too many years being angry."

"I promise, Will," Xander swore. "If I have any concerns about you I'll talk to you about them."

William decided that was good enough and that if it needed to be discussed anymore it could wait until tomorrow. They both tumbled into Xander's room; a heavy boot slammed the door shut.

The boys ended up getting up early the next morning. William had classes and needed to finish up his paper and Xander needed to finish the website for Mel's Pizzeria. While William was in the shower Xander whipped them up some scrambled eggs and toast. The butter was melted and soaked into toast by the time William joined him in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Xander and nuzzled his throat. "Morning, pet."

"Morning," Xander said and kissed William. "Last night was good."

"Last night was better than good," William stated, looking at Xander. "Best sex I've had."

Xander beamed at that. "Me too!" He pulled away so they could sit down and eat. "Are we going to be seeing your dad today?" Xander asked. He doused his eggs with ketchup.

"Not sure." William heaped spoonful of eggs onto a piece of toast. "He was talking about some conference call." He shoved the toast into his mouth and washed it down with some orange juice.

It amazed Xander at how much food William could pack away. He still owed Xander a rematch on a hotdog eating contest. "Maybe he could come over for dinner this weekend?"

William shrugged. "I'll ask him. I don't see why not." He looked at the clock and saw that he was running late. Using his toast he soaked up the rest of his eggs before shoving the food into his mouth and making his way to the bathroom.

Xander grumbled a little as he took the dishes and put them in the sink to soak. He'd do them later. "If you could phone him after classes to ask then I could make up a list of groceries that need to be picked up. I was thinking maybe a beef roast."

"I promise I'll phone him," William stated and planted a minty kiss on Xander's lips. "I'm late. I'll talk to you later, luv." With one more lingering kiss William left.

With a sigh Xander decided to work more on the site. He really needed to get it done.

Sometime around noon there was a knock on the door. Xander never had visitors this time of day. Willow or Buffy would occasionally stop by but they never bothered to knock. Either way Xander was thankful for the distraction. He opened the door and was shocked to see Elliot standing on the other side.

"Hello, Alexander," Elliot greeted.