The fight was over almost before it began. Riley and Xander had distracted the guards while Buffy and Angel beat down the metal door. Spike had gone crazy on the Melacca demon, slicing off all four arms and crushing its windpipe in seconds. The crystal they had to destroy was right where they needed it to be, and the witches chanted it to pieces. Everyone was feeling triumphant, but they still had steam to work off. Buffy invited everyone back over to her house for an impromptu celebration.

The vampire could tell that Buffy was offering a party at her home for a reason. Joyce had left town the previous weekend to help set up a new gallery in LA. Dawn was always complaining to Spike about how quiet the house was. The hard part was that their mother wouldn’t be back for at least a few months.

“I still don’t know why you volunteered my booze,” Spike groused while he carried the full box into the house. He was still having issues over Xander’s little faux pas. It was getting harder to avoid, and he seriously needed to work up the courage to speak about it to the human.

Dawn was on him in seconds, wanting all the details about blood and entrails that only the blonde vampire would give her.  He described everything as gruesomely as he could, but she still wasn’t phased.

Everyone settled in the living room, snacks and alcohol in easy reach. Xander had announced that he was the bartender for the evening, and he set about making insane concoctions with Spike’s liquor. Giles had stayed home, and Tara and Riley had early classes the next day.

Spike leaned in and spoke quietly to the youngest Summers. “How’s the lock-picking going? You practicing like I taught you?”

She beamed proudly, her green eyes glittering. “Yeah, I’m getting pretty good! You know what I need to work on? Hot-wiring. I remember what you showed me, but I don’t have a car to practice on.”

“You should have just asked, Nibblet. I’ll bring the DeSoto by tomorrow and we’ll work on it in the garage, savvy?”

Dawn hugged him and giggled excitedly. Spike had helped tutor her for English, but his real service lay in sneaking her weapons, teaching her to fight, and schooling her in the arts of illegal activity. They had to find their fun somewhere!

“What are you guys whispering about?” Buffy asked suspiciously.

“I told her I’d lend her a few of my CDs. Educate her on the history of fine English Punk Rock,” the vampire easily tossed out.

Angel, who had heard every word, covered his grin.

“Igh…Sex Pistols? Dawnie, are you sure you want to listen to that?”

“Hey! They’re classic!”

And so the night continued, everyone talking and laughing, while Xander mixed drinks and they proceeded to get drunk. Hours later and everyone was in various states of inebriation. Spike had out done himself, having consumed more in one night than he had in decades.  He sprawled on the couch, shirtless because he’d spilled a drink on it and barely conscious. His hands and feet felt heavy and useless, and just the effort of keeping his head up was monumental.

Xander sat on the floor, concentrating on the drinks on the coffee table. Angel was passed out in the dining room, having met Spike drink for drink all night.  Dawn had gone to bed, and Willow and Buffy sat across from the vampire, leaning on each other.  The Slayer barely slurred her words, but it looked like she was having trouble finding them.

“--but like I was saying…Wills,” the Slayer squinted intensely, “I really want the kind of tenderness with Riley that you and Tara have, you know?”

“He’s got the wrong equipment for that, pet.” Spike rolled his head on the cushion to look at her.

“Ew! Not like *that* I mean, not that it’s ew or anything, Willow. It’s just that I like guys.” Buffy stuck her tongue out at the vampire.

“And *that* would be one of the tools!” Spike smirked at the two girls and stuck out his tongue pervertedly.

“And what would you know about it anyway, Spike? You’ve never been a lesbian before.” Willow pouted, her hair falling across her face in thin, red locks. “Know-it-all vampire,” she muttered playfully.

“Oooh, we could wake up Angel and ask if *they* were ever lesbians together!” Buffy bounced giddily, nearly tipping off the couch.  She was joking and they all knew it.

“Guy vampires can’t be lesbians, Buff.” The quiet boy met her eyes, then Spike’s. The vampire saw a heat in them that he didn’t expect.  Xander had been flirting with him all night, and it was putting the blonde in a scary hopeful place.

“Darla and Dru used to go at it all the time–” Spike pointed out casually. He tried to direct his hand to grab his drink off the coffee table, but it wouldn’t move. This wasn’t good.

“I wasn’t saying that I wished Riley was a lesbian, guys! Like…we’re always fighting—not with each other, I meant evil—and it makes us, I don’t know…harsher? You know?”

//Nope, higher thought was *way* beyond her capabilities// Spike considered. But then, grabbing a drink was beyond his, and he chuckled at that.

“You are so drunk, Spike.” Xander got up, swayed, staggered, and plopped next to him. For a second, Spike saw desire. In a flicker, it was gone. “And I happen to know for a fact that you *are* a lesbian. At least part lesbian.”

Buffy and Willow sat up, wide eyed and gasped like this was the best piece of gossip they’d ever heard.

“Really? Him and Angel?” Willow inquired, eyes bright.

“How do you know?” The blonde girl was skeptical.

Spike turned to Xander, not quite believing that the human would want him to get dusted this badly. Most of him was too drunk to care.

“’kay, if I’m gonna say this you guys have to promise you won’t get mad.” Xander blinked slowly at them.

Willow and Buffy were nodding so vigorously, Spike thought their heads were going to pop off.

The blonde vampire was giggling wildly now.  “Xan-der…” Spike said in an effort to stop whatever the whelp was going to do. He knew he should be worried, but right now, the feeling was just background noise to go with the laughter bubbling through him.

“I had a lesbian moment with Spike.” Serious face, but the statement was so bizarre that the room fell silent for a minute. Both girls and Spike started cackling so hard, tears streamed down their faces.  He grabbed Spike’s hand in an effort to make them believe. The contact was intoxicating and both felt the charged energy that flowed through them.

Xander’s other hand trailed up the blonde’s chest, and Spike was rock hard in an instant. A glimpse at the two girls matching wide-eyed expressions only made him laugh harder.

One second he was giggling uncontrollably, the next he had the human’s mouth covering his. //It’s alright. I passed out and now I’m dreaming// Soft, full lips pressed his, and the brunette’s weight shifted as he climbed on top of him.   The boy pulled away as he pulled off his shirt, and Spike’s eyes crawled over the bronze, muscled chest before they moved in for another kiss.  The withdrawal he’d been going through since their first contact flared up, and the vampire was aching for Xander.

“And it looks like he’s having another lesbian moment…”

Willow’s dazed voice sounded far away, and the vampire could sense the arousal of every human in the room.  The two men pulled apart, panting. His heart was soaring, and he really wanted for his arms to function. With intense concentration, his hand floated up to touch the boy’s face as Xander’s fingers trailed over his nipples. In an expert move, the human shimmied his hips until their groins touched.

Spike was drowning in the waves of arousal that came off the dark-haired man. Their erections rubbed through fabric as Xander bucked and writhed against him.

“Waited so long...for this. Feels so good...” The vampire wasn’t aware that he was speaking until he’d said it. He’d hoped the boy would come around; who knew it would be like this?

Totally in the moment, Spike looked at the naked attraction in his human’s eyes as Xander dipped down to kiss him again. Clumsy fingers fumbled on his jeans and the vampire let his head drop back.  //Damned logic.//

“No, Xan…Not here. Not like this.  I’m all for a snog, but the shag has to wait until both of us are sober enough to move, or care about what we’re doing,” the tempted vampire mumbled. He struggled to get his arms to react, and eventually they came to rest on the boy’s wrists.

`*^~--.;'.--~^*`*^~--.;'.--~^*`

“I can move. That’s enough.”

//Soft pale skin. Want him. // Everything was coming through in fragments, but it was so good. Xander’s mind was in slow motion, only commenting on what was going on after the fact, never mind that the room was spinning and dipping in a hazy, music video way.

Sitting on the floor and saying something to Buff and Wills. Knowing he wasn’t supposed to share this little secret but doing it anyway. //Oooh, Spike nearness goodness—is that even a sentence?//

Spike. Gorgeous, forbidden, evil, type O negative-drinking Spike. // Wanna taste those lips. Ok, tasting the lips. Want more.//  The grinding and pulsing was getting to Xander, and all his desire and repressed need for the vampire rushed to the surface in a hypnotic mantra in his head. //Need, need, need, need...//

BLISS TOOK HOLD 14