Kiss Me

A Meal, A Bed, and A Kiss

July 22, 2003
650 words

Third in the series; follows Two Beds and A Coffee Machine. Answer to a challenge by Kaz. Present for the official announcement of Inner Geekdom as the Xandrew zone of the BtVS Writer's Guild.
Thanks to Kaz for the quick beta.

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"Xander!" Oh god, this couldn't be happening, this wasn't happening. It couldn't. It wasn't!

It could... It was...

"Xander! NO!" Andrew screamed as he watched the Bringer cut the brunette in two, from the shoulder to the hip in one swift movement. "No!" Tears started falling from his eyes and he dropped to his knees, shaking as one of the bringers took hold of his shoulders and shook him. "Xander! No! Don't, please don't…"

"Andrew! Come on, wake up!" A mumbled voice drifted to Andrew's ears, but he didn't hear it, his eyes locked on the body of someone he wanted to call his friend but couldn't.

Suddenly, pain erupted in his belly, a deep searing pain. Had one of the Bringers finally got him? Oh, Andrew wished they had. Cause that would mean he was dead and wouldn't have to live knowing his 'almost' friend died to save his life. With a pained scream, he opened his eyes, to find, not a bringer, but Xander looking back at him in the dark of their hotel room, concern showing in his eye.

"It's just a nightmare, shhhh." Xander said soothingly as he wrapped his arms around the shivering form of his bedmate, holding him tightly and caressing his back gently. "Shhh."

"Oh God." Andrew finally said, as he huddled closer to Xander. "You were… you were…" He gulped, not able to get the words out. The thought itself was terrifying.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here. Shhh. It was just a nightmare, it's not real."

"But it was." Andrew argued faintly, tears threatening to fall. Never had he been so shaken by a nightmare before. He'd had some, of course, everyone does, but never quite as painful, nor as scary as that one had been. It hit too close, the wound was still too raw and the attraction too fresh. "You were… they killed you… like they… like they killed Anya and you were dead and I was there and I saw it and…" Here was the panic again.

"Shhh, it's okay, Andrew." Xander repeated, patiently. "I'm here, not dead, see?" He looked into Andrew's eyes and smiled. "Very much alive."

Andrew took a deep breath and nodded. Of course Xander was alive, how silly of him?

"Here," Xander said. "Let me prove it to you." He pressed his lips to Andrew's. It was a chaste kiss, barely a touch of lips on lips, but it was enough for Andrew to calm down and snap back to the present. Sniffling, he prepared to untangle himself from Xander's arms, but found only resistance.

"Where do you think you're going?" Xander asked, slightly amused. Without a word, Xander closed his arms tightly around Andrew and held him close to his chest. Shushing him. "Sleep, I've got you." He whispered. He had no idea where it all came from but something was telling him this was the right thing to do; that Andrew needed to be cuddled and shushed and that everything would be all right; Xander shouldn't be scared of his own actions, or think about the consequences just now. And strangely, that something seemed to have Anya's voice. Xander listened.

"Is he going to be all right?" A deep, sleepy British voice whispered from the other bed.

Slightly panicking, Xander turned to face Giles and gulped. He looked in the other man's eyes for digust, but only found concern and understanding. Nodding, Xander looked back at Andrew, who had quickly fallen back asleep, huddled in Xander's embrace. "He should be."

Giles nodded to himself. "Take good care of him, Xander. He needs you." He would never have thought it before this day, but he knew it was true. They needed each other desperately. They would heal together and probably even build a future. A future. Together. Something Giles could never hope for himself, but would certainly hope for the two young men.

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