Spike's Passions

Here's another episode. Please review to let me know what you think!



Beta: carinas_carinae







Spike’s Passions part 6



Xander stared at Spike for the thousandth time that night. Spike hasn’t explained what the big hug had been about and Xander wasn’t sure he wanted to know. The thing was, the vampire had been acting weird all week. Xander wanted to be sure there wasn’t something wrong. But he didn’t know how to ask.



But, the same as every other night this week, Spike helped with the slaying and then left without a word to anyone. His curiosity finally got the better of Xander and he followed Spike back to his crypt.



___________________________________________________________________



Ethan opened the door to Xander and led him inside. He didn’t even have to ask what was wrong. Xander only had that devastated look on his face after a fight with Spike. Ethan braced himself to be supportive. Again. It was getting very difficult.



Gwen came in and offered Xander a drink which he quickly refused. Ethan’s eyebrows rose a fraction. Well, at least he knew what the fight was about. Spike was drinking again.



Ethan also refused Gwen’s offer of a drink and she took his quiet hint and left them alone. Xander looked over at Ethan with his giant brown eyes filling with tears. “Would you mind if I stayed here tonight?”



“You’re always welcome here Xan. You know that. Want to talk about it?”



Xander shook his head. “Not now. Just, if anyone is looking for me, will you not tell them that I’m here? I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”



“No problem. Come on, we’ll get the guest room set up for you.”



Xander knew the way and in fact had spent more nights than he cared to think about in Ethan’s guest room. Not that Spike knew that. He never asked where Xander went when Spike demanded that he leave.



Ethan turned on the guest room TV and propped up the pillows. He climbed into the bed beside Xander and found one of those sci fi shows that Xander loved so much. Soon, they were both engrossed in the episode and no more words needed to be said.



Gwen peeked her head in a while later and found Xander curled up against Ethan, asleep. Ethan looked at her and gave a small shrug. Gwen just smiled back at him. “Do you need anything?” She whispered the words, trying not to wake Xander.



“No. We’re good. Do you mind if I stay in here with him? He’s probably not going to sleep very long.”



“No, I don’t mind. He needs you. I’m going to go on to bed. See you in the morning. I love you, Ethan.”



“Love you too, sweetie. And thanks.”



Gwen smiled at him and winked flirtily. “I’m going to expect you to make it up to me tomorrow night.”



“I think that can be arranged.”



Gwen’s quiet laughter carried down the hall as she went to their bedroom. Ethan pulled Xander more tightly against him and drifted off to sleep.



*******************************************************************



Miguel was getting ready to leave for the hospital when he heard obnoxious banging on his door. He opened it to find a pissed off Spike glaring at him. “Where is he?” The blond pushed his way inside and looked around.



“What the hell do you mean, ‘where is he’? What did you do?”



Spike moved quickly through the house and realized that Xander wasn’t here. In fact, aside from the picture of Xander, Miguel, Ethan and Buffy, there was no sign of Xander in the place.



Spike moved back to the door and was getting ready to leave when Miguel’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Spike. Seriously, what happened?”



“We had a fight. I told him to leave. He did and never came back.”



Miguel sighed. “Hold on, let me see if I can track him down.” He pulled out his cell and dialed Buffy. She answered with a growl.



“This better be damned good.”



“Buf, it’s Miguel. Is Xander with you?”



Buffy looked over at the dark haired beauty sprawled naked beside her on the bed. Nope, not Xander. What was his name again? Oh, yes. Angel. He certainly was that.



“No, Xan isn’t here. What happened?”



Miguel looked at Spike. “Nothing, just looking for him. Let me know if you see him would you?”



Buffy took the hint. Damn. If he wasn’t with Miguel and he wasn’t with her that just left one place where he would go. She nudged Angel with her foot. “Get up. I’ve got to go.”



Angel frowned at her abruptness but moved from the bed and followed her into the bathroom. A nice hot shower sounded very nice right about now.



Miguel ended the call and dialed again. This time Gwen answered. “Hey, Gwen. It’s Miguel. Is Xander there?”



Gwen looked towards the guest bedroom. She could see Ethan and Xander curled up together, still asleep. “Just a second, Miguel. Let me get Ethan.”



She tiptoed into the room and nudged Ethan. He opened his eyes and she gestured to the phone. “It’s Miguel. He’s looking for Xander.”



Ethan held out his hand for the phone. “Hey, Miguel. What’s up?”



Miguel realized that Ethan knew exactly where Xander was. “Spike’s here looking for Xan. Wondered if he’d shown up there by chance?”



“You already know the answer to that.”



“Okay, Ethan. If you see him, will you let him know that Spike’s looking for him?”



“Yeah, right.”



“Thanks, Ethan.”



Miguel looked at Spike. “Sorry. He’ll turn up. He always does.” Miguel gathered up the rest of his things and ushered Spike out the door.



******************************************************************



Noah and Sam were sitting at Kelly’s Diner enjoying an early lunch. Sam’s eyebrows rose when Buffy walked in followed by Angel. Noah watched his father’s eyes tracking the two through the diner and he noticed that his father’s gaze was not friendly.



Buffy picked up an order and left. Angel sat at the counter and looked at the menu. Odd. Noah looked back at his father. “What’s Buffy done now?” He asked the question jokingly, knowing that Buffy’s exploits had caused his father no end of headaches a few years ago. In fact, Noah had been involved in many of them with her.



Sam looked back at Noah and realized that his son was teasing. “Believe it or not, it’s not Buffy. This time. It’s the guy. Angel is his name. Came into town the other night with another man. There’s just something off about them. I’ve got a bad feeling.”



Noah knew to take his father’s bad feelings seriously. Sam’s gut was notorious for being right about people. It was too bad that Noah himself had learned the lesson too late. His eyes returned to the mysterious stranger and he decided to have a chat with Buffy. Maybe she could give him some details for his dad. He owed Sam that much for everything he was doing for him.



********************************************************************



Buffy didn’t bother knocking on the door at Ethan’s. They all had an open door policy with each other. Well, they used to. They weren’t allowed to just walk in at Xander and Spike’s.



She headed for the guest bedroom and piled in with Ethan and Xander. “I come bearing gifts.”



Xander perked up at the smell of food. “Ah…Kelly’s. You always know just what I need.”



She smiled at him before pulling out a container and handed it to Xander. “Cheeseburger, the works. Curly Fries. And your favorite. Chocolate shake.”



Xander sighed happily and grabbed a straw. Buffy continued digging and pulled out another container for Ethan. “Grilled chicken, hold the mayo. Ugh.” Ethan laughed and took the box. “Hey? Where’s my shake?”



Buffy snorted and handed him a cup. “Low fat berry smoothie. Double Ugh.” Ethan grinned and accepted it. “I’ve got to keep this svelte figure you know. Not all of us have the metabolism of you two.”



Xander nearly choked on his cheeseburger and Ethan slapped him on the back. Buffy pulled out her own grilled cheese and fries and dug in happily. She looked at both her best friends and realized how much she missed them. Their weekly lunches just weren’t enough.



Both men were thinking similar thoughts. Buffy looked over at Xander and Ethan’s gaze followed hers.



“So Xan, you had enough of his bullshit yet?”



_____________________________________________________________________



Xander walked away from the crypt, puzzled. Spike was in bed watching Passions. Well, technically he was watching the back of his eyelids since it appeared that he was sound asleep.



With a shrug, Xander walked away. He’d figure out what was going on eventually.