Title: Something Good

Pairing: Collins/Angel (Cangel)

Summary: Angel walks Collins home that Christmas night to fix him up and the two of them discover that maybe, just maybe, there's a chance of something beautiful coming out of this.

A/N: For Inky (TheInksane) for just being awesome, for getting me, for being a cool ass friend and for letting me be her baby daddy. xD (Roleplay references, ftw.) You and Michelle are too cute. I'm just sayin'. Also, your hair is amazing, and I PROMISE NOT TO TOUCH FREDDIE SO DON'T KILL ME. :L You're the reason I use this face! Happy holidays to you, Chanler.

"So, you from around here?" Angel asked, remarkably at ease with one of Collins arms wrapped around his shoulders, heavily leaning on him as he limped along beside him, his plastic bucket under his other arm. He flashed Collins another encouraging smile, all dimples and just plain adorable, or at least Collins thought so. The philosopher nodded, taking another ragged breath.

"Grew up in a small town not far from here… Move around a lot but hey, worth it you know?" he chuckled dryly, licking blood from his lips. "There's a lot of world to see and not a lot of time to do it in. I'm just trying to see as much as I can."

Angel smiled, face half obscured in the shadows of the alley as they hobbled through it together. It was slow going, but somehow Collins didn't mind. He'd known this boy for five minutes and already he was mesmerized by him.

"I know what you mean," the younger man admitted. His laugh was youthful and throaty. "I want to touch as many people as possible before I go. And who knows when that could be?" He pauses, stopping and staring up at the sky- the velvet blackness that should be studded with stars like diamonds is hardly visible in this city of neon and chrome but he looks almost as though he can see right through it all. Collins likes that look. It's the look of a dreamer.

He wonders, briefly, how old Angel is. He doesn't look like he's old enough to have AIDS- but sadly, Collins knows that doesn't mean anything. In the city these days everyone seemed to be infected, one way or another. Perhaps humanity was the real disease…

Times like these were when he wished he had a joint on him.

When he looks back up, Angel is giving him a contemplative look, that same small knowing smile on his face. Collins feels his breath hitch; damn, this man is beautiful. The orange glow of streetlights illuminates him from above, giving his caramel skin a buttery sheen and he can't help the grin he gives back. He's glad, all at once, for his dark skin; his face feels entirely too hot.

"What?" he asked, although he thought he knew the answer. Angel wasn't looking at him that way for no good reason. He was figuring him out. Analyzing him. And although normally that would make him a little uncomfortable, maybe even offended that a stranger could even think that they knew him just by looking at him- but this was Angel. Angel was just that.

He was obviously a kindred spirit. It was obvious, from the concern in his voice when he had first seen the shapeless, groaning lump that was Collins bleeding on the ground to the gentle touch of his hands as he helped him up.

And maybe it was a little clichéd, but Collins was pretty sure he was beginning to fall.

"Nothing," Angel laughed. "Nothing at all. You have very nice eyes."

The way he said it was so sincere that Collins chest ached. He stared at the other man in the same curious way he had just been scrutinized, several long moments in which their steps grew slower and slower until they stopped altogether directly beneath a streetlamp, bathed in the dim glow. The gaze was intense and very intimate, especially for a pair of people that had met maybe moments before, but Collins couldn't bring himself to care.

He glanced down, eventually, unable to stare into the other man's soul any longer, and raised an eyebrow. "Blue nails?" He chuckled, suddenly filled with overwhelming relief and hope and all of the things he wanted to be on Christmas Eve.

"My favorite color. It looks good with my skin, eh?" Angel threw his head back and laughed. "Just wait until you see my new outfit. It looks fantastic." It was the wink that sealed the deal.

"I'd- love to see it," Collins said with a small, self-conscious laugh. He wasn't trying to hide it anymore- he was attracted to this man on so many levels that he wasn't ready to give up the chance, just that slim chance, that something good might come out of the whole awful meeting.

"I'd love you to see it." Now, that was definitely flirtatious. Almost a purr, and he felt his eyes widen- oh, God, Angel had said he had nice eyes and shit now he knows he's hooked- and-

It's chaste and short and Angel pulls away before he's even sure if it happened. But it's the look in his eyes as he regards Collins again, playful but serious at the same time, that assures him that he's really been kissed.

"Ready to go? I live a couple of blocks away."

"I- oh, yeah… sure. Can do." The grin on his face is so wide he's afraid it might break. Angel laughs and wraps an arm around his waist, tugging him down the sidewalk.

And he decides that maybe something good has come out of this after all.