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Chapter 5 - Three days until Christmas
Yawn. Stretch. Blink. Eeep! Crick in the neck.
Xander leant back and slowly tried to work the strain out of his neck. Experience proved that it wasn’t wise to rush these things. Cool arms coiled around him and he found himself sinking back into the arms of the vampire that had come to mean so much to him.
“Evening, pet.”
“Mmmm.”
“You alright?” Spike asked, worried that Xander may be a little freaked out by the fact that they were entwined together.
“Yeah, well, kinda. My neck hurts and someone replaced my tongue with a dead rat.”
Spike turned Xander over in his arms until they were face to face.
“That will be the combination of too much red wine and falling asleep on the sofa.”
“That settles it then.”
“What?” Spike asked, a little confused.
“We need a TV in the bedroom.”
Spike drew in a breath at the ‘we’ and took Xander’s face in his hands, kissing him deeply, tasting and exploring his mouth as if it was the first time.
“I’m sure that *we* could arrange that.”
“Mmmm. Need to pee.”
“Xander, luv, you say such wonderful things.”
Xander displayed a huge toothy grin and pushed himself up.
Spike suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, err, I’ll come with you!”
Xander stopped at the door and turned, an amused expression plastered over his face.
“Um, there’s stuff between us, you know, we’re definitely getting closer, and that’s great, but, peeing as a couple? I just don’t think I’m ready for that.”
Spike tried not to smile at Xander’s obvious humor. He really needed to go outside with the boy. He really wanted to see his face when he saw his little surprise.
“I don’t wanna piss with you, idiot. I err, I heard someone, something, outside. I just wanna be careful. Don’t want you getting all hurt just before Christmas, or ever in fact.”
“Oh, that’s sweet. Don’t worry, though, I can take care of myself. Do you have a weapon I could borrow?”
Spike ignored the potential smutty retort that he could have given and settled instead for resignation. With a big sigh he took Xander by his elbow and led him out the crypt.
“Got sommit to show yer.”
“Um, out here? Spike, what are you…?”
Xander was stunned into silence and Spike became a little worried. Did Xander like it? Was it too over the top? Ok, so it was supposed to be over the top, but was it just *too* much? Was Xander insulted? Shit. He hadn’t thought of that.
“Da daaa!” He said nervously
Xander stared open mouthed.
“Pet? What do you think?”
“It’s…”
“Too much? Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have...”
“No. It’s not too much. It’s…beautiful. Spike, how did you do this?”
Xander gestured towards the crypt and walked around the outside gazing at every light, every flashing reindeer and smiling Santa face. The entire outside of the crypt was lit with brightly coloured lights fashioned into numerous Christmas symbols and characters.
“Clem did it for me. Thought you might like it. You said you liked tacky too. So now you’ve got both, tacky on the outside and traditional on the inside. Oh, and this.”
Spike dragged Xander back to the front of crypt and positioned him in front of a plastic snowman that was nearly as big as he was.
“Wow…”
“Hang on, there’s more.”
Spike bent down and flicked a switch. The snowman danced. Xander cried.
“Pet? Didn’t mean to make you cry, luv. I’m so sorry.”
“No. It good crying. Happy crying.”
Xander turned and flung his arms around Spike’s shoulders.
“Thank you, Spike. Thank you.”
Spike gripped the human tightly and nuzzled his head.
“S’ok, pet. S’nothing.”
“No, it’s not nothing. It’s everything. This all means so much. No-one has ever cared enough to do anything even remotely close to this for me. I just...just…this is so perfect. All I need now is the puppy.”
“Puppy?”
“Yeah. Trust me, you don’t want to hear *that* story.”
“I do wanna hear it. I wanna hear all your stories, good or bad.”
“You might change your mind when you hear this one.”
**
Spike didn’t change his mind. He wanted to run all the way to the Harris household and pull out some intestines. But he wouldn’t. That would really wreck Christmas for his boy. Instead, Spike was overwhelmed with the desire to do more to ensure Xander’s perfect Christmas. But what to do next? Spike had an idea.
“What would you like to do tonight, luv?”
“Me? I dunno. You decide.”
“Nope. I’ve dragged you around for the last couple of nights. So it’s your turn to drag me.”
“But Spike, everything you’ve done over the last few days had been for me. You should decide.”
“Not a chance. Either name sommit or it's no Christmas TV for you. C’mon, there must be *something* you’d like to do. Anything you’ve ever fancied doing at Christmas, but not got the chance?”
A small grin threatened to play at Xander’s lips.
“Well, there is one thing. The girls go a lot, but they never invite me. I reckon they think that I can’t do it, or maybe that I wouldn’t want to. But I can, and I do want to. Can we, really? Can we?”
“Course we can! You wanna go, then we’ll go! Get yer clogs on, pet, we’re going…err, where are we going?”
Xander told him
“Bloody hell!”
**
The two men sat on a bench and stared out at the icy rink.
“Are you sure about this? You really don’t mind?”
“No, course not.”
“So why have you got a face like thunder?”
“’aven’t.”
“Yes you have. Look, if you really don’t want to do this, then we should go. I’m only going to be happy if you’re happy.”
Spike put himself in check. This clearly meant a lot to Xander. He would try. Maybe he would end up enjoying himself? Stranger things had happened. Kissing and cuddling with Xander for one thing. Who could have guessed that would happen?
(Suki: Ok, Ok, you can all lower your hands. That was a question for the characters, not you lot!)
“No, Xan, I do want to do this. It’s just that…Ican’tskate.”
“Huh?”
“I. Can't. Skate. There, I said it. Mock me if you will.”
Xander was a little hurt.
“Spike, you really think I would do that? I wouldn’t.”
Xander’s eyes widened with sudden excitement.
“I could teach you!!!!”
“Yeah? Really?”
Spike’s demon groaned and kicked him from the inside. Spike ignored it. Yeah, let Xander do this. He really wants to.
“Yeah! Come on, put your skates on. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
“You sure about this? I’m a wall hugger.”
“I’ll get you off the wall. You can hug me instead.”
“I just might do that, pet.”
**
“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”
Xander skated past the vampire that had firmly attached himself to the side of the rink.
“It’s easy. See?”
Xander skated back past and did a little twirl for illustration.
“Yeah. Looks easy when you do it.”
“It’s just a matter of balance. You’re a vampire; I’ve seen you scale trees, jump buildings, walk along fences like a pussy cat. Me? I’m a lumbering idiot, and I can still do it.”
“You ain’t a lumbering idiot!”
Xander skated up close, stopped and shrugged.
“You look right graceful on those skates, pet.”
“Thanks,” Xander said, blushing.
“Can I watch you?”
“Not if you’re just trying to get out of skating yourself.”
“M’not. I just want to watch you move.”
Xander blushed even brighter, unsure of how to react.
“Go on, luv. Let me see.”
Finally Xander nodded and skated off around the rink.
Spike, still firmly attached to the side, watched his boy glide round and around, backwards, forwards, little spins, changes of direction. Xander was a natural. And Spike thought that he’d never looked so beautiful, so graceful and so sexy. He felt himself harden and tried to push the arousing feelings away. Firstly, it was not good to be hard around kiddies and secondly, if anyone ever found out that he, the Big Bad, was getting turned on by ice-skating, then his already battered reputation was history. Not that it really mattered these days.
Xander skated back towards him and Spike risked releasing one arm from the side to welcome his boy back. He tugged Xander closer to him and whispered.
“Beautiful, luv. Never seen anything like it.”
Xander leaned into Spike’s one armed embrace and rubbed his face into the vampire’s shoulder.
“Mean it, luv.”
“Skate with me?”
“I warn you, pet, It ain’t gonna be pretty.”
Xander laughed. It was deep and rich and it floated right into Spike and flooded his senses. The sound of Xander’s happiness was like a drug and Spike felt well and truly high.
“Just try to stay upright.”
“Duh! Bloody hell. I’ve been hanging around with you yanks too sodding long.”
Xander laughed again and held out both hands.
“Grab hold, yank-wannabe. I won’t let you fall. Well, if you do, I’ll be sure to go down with you.”
“Very comforting, pet,” Spike said as he detached his other arm from the side and trustingly gave it to Xander.
Face to face, arm in arm they slowly began to move. Xander skated backwards, pulling Spike along after him.
“Hey! I’m bloody doing it!”
“See? Easy?”
“Yeah, innit? Don’tletgothough!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let go until you’re ready. Want to go faster?”
“A bit. Nottoofastthough!”
Xander chuckled and skated a little faster, working his hands down Spike’s arms until they were holding hands.
“You’re doing great, Spike!”
“Yeah, I am!”
“Now try and move your feet in time with mine.”
Spike gave it a go and found that it was quite easy. Course, he was still firmly attached to Xander and was not about to let go for love nor money.
“Ready to go faster?”
“Long as I can hang on.”
“Sure, but I’m going to turn round so we can both skate forwards. Grab my hips and scream if I go too fast.”
Spike complied, enjoying holding tightly to Xander’s body as they skated faster around the rink.
“Whooo! Faster!”
Xander glanced back over his shoulder.
“You sure?”
“Yeah! Pedal to the metal, pet.”
“Ok, warp nine. Engage!”
Xander skated as fast as he could and he held out his arm for Spike.
“Grab hold.”
Spike briefly let go and attached one hand to Xander’s, skating next to him at top speed.
“See? I told you. You vampire, equals good balance, equals good skating.”
“Whooo! Whoooo! Whoo….ooooo…..ooo…..Xan?!”
“Oh shit!”
Three pesky kids were skating directly at them. The choice was simple. Either crash straight into them or risk a dangerous maneuver that could potentially scare the vampire out of his wits and possibly break a few bones in the process. Crashing into the children really was not an option.
“Xan?! XAN! What are you…Whhhhooooaaaa!”
“Shit!”
“Bollocks!”
“OOOF!”
“OOOF!”
Xander groaned and tried to keep his body as still as possible while his brain registered the damage.
“I think my back is broken.”
“Eh?!”
“Not really. Are you okay, Spike?”
“Me? Super. Ta very much.”
“Are you mad?”
“Course I ain’t! Why would you think that?”
“’cause I made you go skating when you didn’t want to, and now we are lying, injured, on the ice?”
“There are worse places to be lying. And besides, I ain’t lying on the ice. I’m lying on you.”
Spike grinned down at Xander and gave him a merry wink.
“You, erm, want to go home now? I think I would be a little more comfortable on the couch. Less of the coldness. You might have to help me.”
“Course I’ll help. Erm, how do I get up?”
**
For the first time in Spike’s life, he was happy with a nice slow pace. Not that he would complain if Xander threw him against the fridge and fucked him until his fangs shook loose, but he was more than content with the brief shy touches and long tender kisses that he was getting.
It was a pace that they had both set and Spike was more than happy with it. He didn’t want this to be a good hard bang then nothing more. He really liked Xander, more than he had ever liked any human before. The growing relationship somewhat reminded Spike of waiting for Christmas. The fun was in the anticipation.
**
Xander roared with laughter as Charles Dickens’, AKA Gonzo, accidentally set light to Rizzo the rat’s tail.
“Hee! Light the lamp, not the rat! I love it!”
Spike slammed the oven door shut, sealing two large baked potatoes inside and ran to the couch.
“Fuck, missed it. That’s the funniest bit.”
Without a word, Xander picked up the remote control and rewound the tape to the beginning of the scene. The tail lighting incident occurred again and both men rolled about the couch in gales of laughter.
“Bloody funny, that.”
Xander winced slightly before nodding happily.
“What’s up?” Spike asked, concern apparent in his voice.
“Oh, nothing. My back is a little sore from earlier.”
“Is that so?”
Spike got up and pulled the tiny heater a little closer, turning it full on.
“Take you shirt off.”
“Huh?”
“Your shirt, take it off, pet. Wanna give you a massage.”
Xander swallowed hard.
“A massage?”
“Yeah, work a few of those tense muscles out. Don’t worry, luv. I won’t bite.”
Xander slowly unbuttoned his shirt and smiled at the thought that a biting Spike didn’t really scare him that much. After all, he could always bite back.
Spike did well at hiding his nervousness. Xander had unbuttoned his shirt and Spike was slipping it from his shoulders. Smooth flawless skin was revealed and Spike had to fight every vampire urge not to pounce on the warm human body and claim it for his own. However, he couldn’t resist a little worship. Kneeling behind Xander, he bent down and dropped tiny gentle kisses onto Xander’s shoulders.
“So beautiful, luv. So warm. So perfect.”
Xander moaned quietly and pushed back against Spike with a plea.
“Touch me?”
Silently Spike placed his hands onto Xander’s shoulders, kneading gently and touching every inch of skin. He slid his hands up and slowly caressed Xander’s neck; stroking and playing with his slightly too long hair.
“Mmm, nice.”
Spike lowered his hands.
“Where does it hurt, pet?”
“Down the bottom, to the left. It doesn’t really hurt. It’s just kinda sore.”
Spike lightly brushed one hand down to the indicated area and stopped.
“Pet. That’s bruising, luv. Looks painful.”
“Not really. I’ve had worse.”
As soon as the words had left his mouth he regretted them.
“Is that right?”
Spike desperately fought with his demon for control. Xander was silent and he could tell that he was not going to be happy if he threw a vampire paddy.
“Does look painful, though. I’ll see if I can work around…What’s that?”
Spike traced a finger along a long faded scar that sat just above the line of Xander’s jeans.
“That’s old. Please ignore it.”
Spike looked up at the slight tremble to Xander’s voice. The boy had hung his head and was shaking ever so slightly. Was this the time for tackling Xander’s home problems? Was this the time to make the boy spill his heart? Probably not.
Spike leant forward and placed an understanding kiss to the back of Xander’s neck.
“Whatever you want. But you know I’m here, right?”
Xander nodded.
“Now, back to work. Gonna turn your spine to mush, pet.”
And he did.
The evening ended as it had done the night before. With two bodies, one warm and one cool, wrapped and entwined around each other. The only difference was that Spike was wide awake. He lay on his back on the couch with his dark haired boy cuddled against his chest. Spike held on to him tightly, almost fearing that if he was to let go Xander would be torn from him and lost forever. Spike was troubled. He had known all along that he couldn’t fix Xander’s problems overnight. He wished he could just wave a magic wand and take Xander’s pain from him. He would gladly suffer it in Xander’s place.
An idea hit him. Two of them actually. Ooh, no, make that three. Okay, so he couldn’t fix things overnight. But he had got a long way in making this a special Christmas for Xander. But the specialness (Was that even a word?) was not going to stop here. Tomorrow, Spike was going to go Christmas shopping. No Christmas was complete without presents. Course, he would have to ditch his boy for a while, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Then he had a woman to see. A woman who could go a long way towards helping Xander have the most magical Christmas in the history of Christmases.
But how to convince her? That was going to stretch the old brain.
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Suki
Blue Fiction
