This Place and Time

Xander woke up the next morning and he was feeling
great. Well, his body still felt sore, and he was
barely able to get up without wincing in pain, but his
mind was swimming. He would get to see Angel for yet
another day. It was very soothing knowing that Angel
had wanted his company, no one seemed to want him
around lately and it was nice that someone asked for
his time. However, he knew it went deeper than that.
Angel was becoming something more than Xander had
intended, not knowing exactly what that was he decided
that he needed some air.

To push out Angel related thinking Xander decided that
he'd go out. Fresh air was good, it was calming and it
was distracting.

He carefully got dressed, making sure to put his
cloths on slowly. It still felt uncomfortable, not to
mention a bit painful to rush his movements. With his
cloths finally on he grabbed his wallet and walked out
the door of his room.

He made sure to check on his parents, the holidays
served only as an excuse for them to drink more and
become more obnoxious. He peaked his head into the
living room and not to his surprise they were both
asleep in the living room. His mother curled up into a
ball like a cat in the center of the couch, while his
father was sprawled at the foot of the same couch with
his limbs spread in an X shape, beer bottles
decorating the floor. It would seem that his mother
was watching television when she fell asleep/passed
out. While his father probably fell onto the floor,
too drunk and too lazy to have gotten himself up and
make his way to bed.

'Good', Xander thought. He didn't want his parents
awake when he made his way out. They would most likely
scold him for being out so late, then forbid him from
going out that night. He'd probably get stuck doing
chores, which would only take about a few hours
considering how much of a mess the house was in. Not
looking forward to their awakening, he slowly made his
way out the door and out into that glorious sunshine.

*******

He had walked aimlessly for hours. What was there to
do on a Hellmouth in the middle of the day? Nothing,
that's what he did. He went to the mall and just
walked around. Perhaps he would buy something to wear
for tonight, he didn't know what exactly Angel was
planning so maybe he should dress in better attire.

He walked into some of the clothing stores and he was
a bit discouraged. Anything he wanted was a bit
overpriced for him. Yes he could afford it, but by
afford it only meant that he could buy it now and be
broke later, and no money made Xander a very unhappy
boy. There was reason why he wore Hawaiian shirts and
other cheap to moderately priced clothing. The cheaper
the better, especially since he couldn't repair his
battered and torn clothing. So he didn't want to spend
forty to a hundred dollars for a pair of jeans that
would probably be torn and ruined by this time next
week.

It was almost noon so he decided that he would get
something to eat. Burgers sounded tempting, so he
headed to the nearest McDonald's and bought himself a
nice Big Mac meal to satisfy his hunger.

Today was turning out to be a bust. It was nice to be
out, but he had no one to spend the day with. This was
suppose to be about relaxing and not thinking about
anything, a day of peace before he went to Angel's.
Which if he had hadn't said over and over to himself,
he was * really * looking forward to.

He was so deep into thought that he hadn't felt the
tap on his shoulder.

"Xander?" Came a soft feminine voice.

He turned his head and peered over his shoulder. Right
behind him was Willow with a smile spread across her
face. "Oh, hi Wills." He turned his head fully and
scanned the area around her. "I don't see Oz anywhere.
I suppose I'm safe for the moment."

Willow scrunched her brow and frowned. "Xander," She
said in a warning tone. "I really wish things weren't
this way. I can't take you two being so hostile
towards each other." She moved over to his right side
before speaking. "May I sit?" Xander nodded and she
took a seat at his table, sitting across from him.

"I don't really think Oz would like you being alone
with me. After all, I might try to put the moves on
you." Xander said in the most sarcastic way he could
manage.

"Can we not talk about that. It will never happen
again. I know it, you know it, and hopefully some time
soon, Oz will know it. But let’s get off that stuff
right now, how are you Xander?" She placed her elbows
on the table while pulling her hands together. Fingers
entwined as she placed her now joined hands on the
table.

"Uh, right. I'm fine Wills."

"Well you sure don't look fine to me," she exclaimed.
She stared at his forehead indicating the cut above
his brow. She lowered her voice and leaned over the
table, "Did he do it again?"

Xander shoot her a confused look. "What? Oh. No!
Nothing like that. I was just hurt on patrol last
night that's all. Nasty vampire gave me owies all
over."

Willow scrunched her face and stared him in the eyes.
"Did you and Angel get into a fight? Did he beat you
up Xander? Oh god. He's finally snapped and he beat
you up didn't he? Just tell me Xander and I'll do
something. Cause you know, I can rig up something
nasty, give him warts. Or something else just as
grotesque and equally irritating."

Xander smiled at his friend. At least she still cared
about his safety, enough to even want to seek
vengeance for him. "No Wills, he didn't beat me up.
Although I'll have to keep that warts thing in mind.
Hey! You think you can give my chem teacher warts. She
already looks enough like a witch, I bet a nice set of
warts would fit her nicely."

Willow gave him indignant look. "HEY! I take offense
to that. Witches aren't all warts and broom sticks,
those are stereotypes mister."

Xander was surprised by Willow’s sudden outburst that
he immediately apologized. "Oh, well, sorry."

Willow smiled and calmed herself. "It's Okay, you’re
forgiven. Just don't do that again." Xander nodded and
looked at her for a moment wondering what she was
going to say next. Willow got a worried look on her
face before speaking. "So what did happen? Did Angel
help you out? Or did you go into your usual insult
mode forcing Angel to storm off into the night? You
know, you really shouldn't just go home after
patrolling, we could have patched you up."

"It was fine Will. Angel took me to his place and
patched me up." Xander realized his mistake and tried
not to look suspicious. But Willow could always sense
when something was up, he cursed himself for his
stupidity and looked at Willow.

Willow gave him a questioning look, this was going to
be bad. "Since when does Angel care if you’re well? I
seem to remember you two hating each other. So tell
me, should I be worried?"

"Of course not, Angel and I...are...well. I don't know
if we’re friends. But we don't hate each other
anymore. At least I don‘t think we do." He knew he was
letting too much information slip past his lips, but
he couldn't help it. There was just some things you
needed to let out. If he didn't tell someone he was
going to implode. However, he wasn't going to tell her
about the warm fuzzies Angel gave him just by his mere
presence. That was something he really wasn't ready to
admit to himself, let alone Willow.

"I see. Well what inspired this, change?"

"Hmm. I don't know exactly but it might have been
Christmas." He knew it was too vague, hopefully she
wouldn't ask.

"What exactly happened on Christmas?"

'Damn'. "Well, um, I sort of bought Angel a present."
He looked at her wondering what her reaction would be.
She gave him a look of complete shock. Exactly the
reaction he expected, she was speechless and Xander
decided not to be so cruel and explain. "Listen it's
nothing okay. I just wanted to make peace with him,
nothing more. We aren't like best buddies or anything.
I just don't think of him the same way anymore, so I
tried to make nice. I don't think we’re friends, but
we don't hate each other."

Willow stared for a second before grinning widely.
"Right Xander. That sounds, nice. Well I think I
should be going, have a nice day." She stepped up to
leave and as she passed him she put her hand on his
shoulder and gave him a slight squeeze." If you see
Angel, tell him I said hi." She paused for a moment.
"Bye Xander."

"Bye Will."
And she walked away.

********

Xander was on his way to Angel's home and was
incredibly excited. After his visit with Willow the
day had been completely uneventful. He wondered around
the mall until about seven, deciding that he needed to
go home and take a shower before showing up at
Angel's. Luckily his parents weren't home, so he was
able to get ready in peace.

When he got to the mansion he was feeling completely
nervous. Not sure exactly why, he conquered his
nervousness and knocked on the door. He heard some
noises coming and someone approached the door.
Preparing himself, he took a deep breath and
straightened his posture. To his complete surprise it
wasn't the person he was expecting to see, he was here
to see Angel. But this made him jump out of his skin
and want to run. The person who opened the door,
standing right in front of him, was Buffy.

"Xander?" she asked surprised.

"Uh, oh Buffy! Hi." He was shaking, how was he going
to explain his reasons for showing up at Angel's.
Maybe he misunderstood Angel and he wasn't welcomed
after all. What was he doing here? How could he
explain?

"Xander, is there a reason you’re here?" He felt like
an idiot. Not knowing how to explain he just stood
there and stared. He had been right, Angel and Buffy
were still together, and for some reason he became
completely angry with her.

"I don't know, just dropping by. What are you doing
here?" He questioned, angry and accusing. Eyes
narrowed. He was coming off as an ass but he didn't
care.

Buffy noticed his hostile mood and decided that she
didn't like it. "Do I even need a reason? And if you
need to know I came to check up on Angel. Are you
spying on me?"

Xander just snapped. Of course he wasn't spying on
her, she was the last thing on his mind. "Yeah, what
if I am. There’s no reason for you to be here. I
thought you and he were done, or do we need another
trip down Angelus lane for you to get it through your
thick skull that being involved with him is a bad
idea."

"I don't need to justify my actions to you Xander.
We've been here before. What you need to do is
confront all your jealousy issues." She looked ready
to punch him. It was getting out of hand, but at the
moment Xander couldn't really control himself.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" he spat.

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "I think you
know what it means."

He stood there and gave her a glare of his own. "I
don't need to put up with this. I'm out of here." He
stormed off as Buffy slammed the door.

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

Xander felt like such an ass. He didn't have to
explode like he did, but he was overcome with complete
rage. He could have easily told her that he was
looking for her and had heard she was at the mansion.
Just her presence there when he was suppose to be made
him so angry.

To calm himself, he walked around town. This was just
getting to him so much. Angel had been there with
Buffy. He wasn't welcomed like he thought. Why did he
feel hurt? If Angel still wanted to be with Buffy that
was his own business. However, he couldn't help the
way he felt. It had been about an hour since the
Buffy incident, and Xander was ready to go home. It
was time for him to get over this, if Angel didn't
want his time or his presence then it was okay with
him. Angel could have Buffy.

He was a few blocks away from his home when someone
reached from behind a tree and yanked him from the
sidewalk. Xander was about to yell for help but a hand
closed over his mouth. He was in full panic mode, he
had to get away. He was about to punch the dark figure
when he noticed that it was Angel.

"Xander calm down. I just came to talk." Xander didn't
know what to say. However he needed to say something.

"Why don't you just go talk to Buffy. I'm sure she'll
listen. I need to be home, so if you'll kindly step
out of my way." He made his way to move past Angel
when a hand was placed in front of his chest.

"No! Just listen okay. I didn't mean for her to be
there. She just kind of came over. I didn't invite her
alright, she was just worried that I'd still be
unstable. I couldn't just force her to leave. Sorry
things got so messed up." Angel lowered his hand.

Xander was so relieved. Angel did want his time after
all. He let out a sigh, "Oh. Well okay then." He
starred at Angel," Uh, what now then?"

"How about a walk?"

Xander smiled at Angel and they both took off walking.


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

They had been walking around for hours just talking.
The walk had started off slow, Angel continually
apologized for what happened at the mansion and not
stepping in. While Xander just reassured him it was
alright. He really didn't care because he knew Angel
had wanted to spend time with him. Xander was feeling
good; him and Angel talked about Angel. Not much, just
the time right before Sunnydale, which Xander already
knew.

Deciding they should call it a night and end their
evening, Angel accompanied Xander home. On the way
there Xander was attacked by a fledge. The thing was
obviously only a day old - cemetery dirt still
covering its tuxedo - and very stupid, it hadn't even
realized Xander was accompanied by a 250-year-old
master vampire. It threw itself at Xander and they
plunged to the ground. Xander was too beat from the
other night to fight back, so he struggled to no
avail.

When the fledge was just about to sink its teeth into
his neck a stake was jolted into its back and right
through to its heart. It burst into dust and Xander
saw Angel standing above him.

"God Angel. Maybe you should just become my body
guard, you keep saving me," he said breathless.

Angel knelt down beside Xander and cupped his cheek.
"Are you OK?" Xander nodded and just starred into his
eyes. Angel was looking back and Xander was lost in
his gaze. They shared this same position a few times,
and each time it felt more dream like. Always so calm
and peaceful. It seemed like an eternity before either
of them moved. But it was Angel who moved, very slowly
he leaned until him and Xander where nose to nose.
Then he moved closer and their lips pressed together.

Xander's eyes widened. Him and Angel were kissing.

TBC