A World of Their Own

Part 4

A few days had gone by since the river incident. Spike was being more annoying than usual and Xander was at his wits’ end. The blonde wouldn't help with the cabin, which was slowing him down considerably; he was short-tempered and spent all his time hunting in the woods or laying in the sun - naked. That in itself was enough to keep Xander away from him. It was almost as bad as the week after Spike had run out of cigarettes. How a vampire could go through nicotine withdrawal, Xander wasn't sure, but Spike had been no fun whatsoever that week.

"Stupid, stubborn vampire. I mean what the hell crawled up his ass and died? It's not like I don't have bad moods, but do I take it out on him? Nooooo. I just put my anger into my work; why can't he? It would get done faster."Xander continued to mutter to himself as he hacked away at the tree he was cutting down. He wondered what Giles would say if he knew that he was using his fighting axe to cut down trees. It didn't matter. He would likely never see Giles again. He'd probably grow old here and die, having to depend on Spike to care for him in his old age. Just the thought of Spike taking care of him made him snicker. "Not likely; he'd probably find a way to eat me just to get out of it."

Xander dragged the log back to the building site and finished prepping it. He would have liked the help with this now that the walls were tall enough to need a ladder, but he refused to let Spike’s bad mood slow up his work. He wanted a home, damn it. He was tired of sleeping in a damp cave.

It took almost an hour but after a lot of cursing, and a few minor scrapes and bruises, Xander had the log in position. He jumped down and headed for the river to wash up. He was thirsty, dirty, and hungry enough to eat a horse. He hoped Spike brought something back for dinner, he really didn't want to eat raw carrots and strawberries for dinner - again.

They had gotten in a routine of washing their boxers in the river every morning and leaving them there to dry, forcing them to go commando in their jeans all day, but it left them with something clean to wear while their clothes dried so it worked. Xander stripped out of his jeans and shirt and waded into the deeper part of the river. He ducked under the water and scrubbed at his hair. He found that using the sand on the river bottom to scrub with left him cleaner than just using water.

After he was clean, he washed out his clothes on some rocks and then lay out in the sun to dry before donning his boxers and heading up toward the waterfall. He filled the three glass jars with water and then headed back home. He was not in a good mood; he just wanted to eat and go to sleep.

Spike had been in a foul mood since the river episode. The last thing he needed was to start lusting after Xander. It was bound to happen; a demon had certain needs after all, and Xander was the only other body available. If that was all it was, it wouldn't be bothering him, but no, he had to develop feelings for the boy. They were friends and friends did not entertain lusty thoughts about each other. Not to mention that Xander was not into guys, or vampires for that matter. Bug people, mummies, and vengeance demons were okay but not vampires. He wondered if that had anything to do with Angel; there had to be a story behind that somewhere.

He had been spending as much time away from Xander as possible - hunting, walking, swimming in a pond he had found a few miles away, and of course wanking off. He fantasised about every woman he had ever had the hots for, and every woman he had slept with - all four of them, he included the Buffy bot.

It was ridiculous really; a vampire of his age having only bedded three actual women and one robot woman, but that was Dru for you. She didn't mind sharing him with Darla after Angelus took off, but that was it. He was forbidden to touch another woman, not that he had much interest at the time. He was happy enough with his princess, and Darla was no shy virgin before she was turned; he'd learned a lot from her.

Then there was Harmony, not too bright - but a pretty face, and Spike needed someone. He had never been a solo vampire before and he was lonely. Then there was his burgeoning obsession with the slayer that resulted in the bot. He still had to chuckle at himself for that brilliant plan, ‘cause nothing says 'I love you' like having a sex bot designed after your intended. He was lucky Buffy hadn't staked him.

There had been a few guys over the years, Angelus obviously, Penn - when he came home the odd time, and a few minions here and there, but that had been after Drusilla's accident. She was far too weak for intimacy, but she still refused to allow him to take another woman to bed; therefore he made do with a couple of the more attractive male minions he had sired.

But now, this thing with Xander was getting out of hand. He couldn't help but look at him; they both paraded around in nothing but their boxers at night, and Xander had filled out nicely - much better than any of the men he had shagged in the past. Plus there was the human factor. Spike had never shagged a warm body; the bot was the closest thing he'd ever had to human. He had been turned a virgin, so he didn't even have memories of warm flesh to relive.

Last night Spike had stayed away until he was sure Xander would be asleep, and then he left again as soon as he woke up this morning. He felt guilty for leaving the boy without dinner last night so he made sure to kill something on the way back to the cave tonight. A family of boars was close enough for Spike to grab one of the little ones; he knew the boy had enjoyed the last one he'd brought home. It was a peace offering of sorts, ‘cause Spike was sure he would be difficult to live with until he got past this.

Xander got back to the cave and saw Spike roasting a pig over the campfire. His stomach rumbled its approval of his choice of meal. He wished he had a cooking pot, he'd love a stew sometime soon. Roasted meat and vegetables were good, but he was quickly tiring of them after this long. Variety would be nice. Then again, he'd give his left nut for a pizza about now.

"Hey Spike, how was your day?"Xander didn't wait for the blonde to reply he just continued to talk, as he’d been doing all day since he was alone. "Me? I had a great time! I dragged trees around all by myself, then I worked on the cabin, you know the cabin that we are going to live in - again by myself. I've got the cuts and bruises to prove it. I hope you didn't work too hard today, you know, strain yourself or anything."Xander hung his wet clothes out and drank the water from one of the jars. He re-stacked the pile of firewood that had begun to look like a beaver’s dam, and then sat down near the fire to wait for dinner.

Spike took a good look at Xander; he did have a few cuts and bruises. It wasn't anything serious, but he still felt guilty. He should have been helping the guy. As he had pointed out, it was for the both of them, so he shouldn't leave all the work to Xander, especially now that it was getting harder. It was definitely a two-man job; the roof would be going up soon, and there was no way Xander could do that alone. He'd likely kill himself.

Dinner was eaten in silence, Xander had obviously decided he had nothing else to say to Spike, and Spike didn't want to say anything to set the boy off so he remained silent as well. Eventually, the meal was finished, the bones were buried - so as not to attract predators, and the skins had been stretched out to dry. Spike was acquiring quite a large sum of furs and leathers. He didn't know if this world would get snow, but he wanted to be prepared, and eventually the clothes they had would wawayaway and they'd be left naked. Not something he was willing to think about right now.

"Look Xander, before you go off to bed all pissy with me, I'm sorry. All right? I've been a complete wanker these past couple of days."Spike had nortnort at his choice of names for himself, truth was he had wanked himself silly trying to get over thoughts of Xander.

Xander snorted and gave Spike a black look; he wasn't buying an apology this easily. He had no idea what set the blonde off in the first place, and he wanted an explanation. "You're sorry? And what? I'm supposed to say 'that's okay Spike. Feel free to treat me like shit, ignore me, and leave me to do all the work on our home. I don't mind.' Is that it? ‘Cause it won't work. I want to know what the hell crawled up your ass and died!"

Spike thought about replying 'Angelus, but technically he was dead before he crawled up my arse' but then he thought better of it. That was the last thing he needed to get the boy started on. "Look pet, I've just had some things on my mind. I'll find a way to deal with it that doesn't interfere with the work on the house, alright?"Xander rolled his eyes in frustration; this wasn't working. "I thought we were friends now, Spike? Are we, or has the last six months been all in my head?"

"We are friends, pet. What does that have to do with this?"Xander stood and began to pace. "Then why won't you tell me what's bothering you? Is it me? Did I do something, ‘cause if I did you have to tell me what it was so I don't do it again."Spike shook his head. How was he supposed to answer this? The truth? Not likely! 'Yes pet, it was you, I saw you having a wank in the river the other day and since then I've wanted to shag you silly.' Yeah, he could see that going over well. Not.

"It's not you, it's me."That was as far as Spike got in his explanation before Xander burst out laughing. "God, Spike. You sound like you’re breaking up with me."Xander put one hand on his chest - over his heart, and the other on his brow. Then he replied in a high falsetto voice "Please, Spike. Don't leave me! What ever shall I do without you."Then he batted his eyelashes at him and stepped closer to the blonde. He grabbed Spike and pulled him close, so that their noses were almost touching before he continued in a low husky voice. "Isn't there something I can do to make you stay."

Spike pulled abruptly away and turned his back. He could still feel Xander’s warm hands on his skin, his hot breath on his face, and he was going to have a hell of a time explaining the erection he was sporting if Xander noticed. "Ha bloody ha, Harris."Xander chuckled and put his hand on Spike's bare shoulder. "Look, whatever it is, we can deal with it, okay? I want to help."

"Fine. Whatever, Spike. I'm going to bed. You going to be here in the morning? Can you stand being around me or am I going to have to work alone again?"

Spike was getting angry. He hadn't wanted to fight with the boy, that was why he had been avoiding him so much. "Damn it Xander! I told you, it's not you!"Xander spun around to face Spike, a look of hurt and anger on his face. "Of course not. It's you, right? Come on Spike! You've been avoiding me, sneaking out first thing in the morning, not coming back until I'm asleep, you don't talk to me, and you don't even look at me. If it's not me, then what the hell is it?!"

By this point, Xander was right in Spike’s face, his hands clenched into fists at his side. He was breathing hard and shaking in anger. Spike just wanted to either run like hell or kiss the man silly. He should have run.

Xander was shocked when Spike sunk his hands into his hair and pulled his face down to kiss him. It was a good kiss and he found himself automatically responding to it. Of course once he realised who it was he was kissing, he pushed away and stared at the vampire with a mix of confusion and sorrow. Spike didn't stick around to see what Xander would do, he ran off into the night.

Xander crawled into his makeshift bed and touched his kiss-swollen mouth. He was still in shock over being kissed. He was sure he would freak out once the situation had sunk in. Spike had kissed him. Why Spike had kissed him was the question. "Is that why he's been so moody? He likes me? Apparently the demon magnet is still working."Xander lay down to sleep, he would just ignore this, hopefully it would all go away.