Spike woke on the couch, dressed and tucked beneath a fuzzy blanket. He was sitting propped up with pillows, and he felt something cool touch his lips.

“Drink up, and don’t try any sudden moves,” Xander gently instructed, his voice pained. “We missed the next dose--God! I’m so sorry, Spike!”

The vampire drank what was offered to him, the lemony potion affecting him slowly. “Don’t beat yourself up, Xan. We got wrapped up is all.”

“No, I should be taking care of you. Making sure you take your Willow juice, and I’m thinking of not calling it Willow juice because it just sounds wrong, but it doesn’t matter because you’re supposed to take it every few hours and I-“

“It’s my bloody fault, just drop it. And don’t ever call my potion that again.” He smiled slowly to reassure his boy. “You take good care of me.”

There was much cuddling to be done and sleep was beckoning to Spike.

Xander laid him down after he’d finished “the potion” and then crawled up beside him. Within moments they were both sound asleep.

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

Xander seemed to get better as the days passed. He hadn’t completely lost the mood swings or the random powers, but Spike saw a level of control in him now. He was able to return to work after a few sun experiments with the witches, and Spike was now taking it easy on the couch full time.

He had the TV on constantly, even though he still couldn’t see it. The sound was soothing for him while Xander was away.

After the first week, Angel surprised him by making a trip downstairs. Usually Buffy or Riley would try to sneak to the fridge for food or blood, but as far as Spike knew, Angel was still ill.

“You sane or still loopy?” the younger vampire called up when he smelled him.

“Back to normal, I think,” Angel answered. He sounded gratified and dazed to Spike.

“Good. Come pour some of this potion for me, eh? I overslept…” the blonde ordered irritably. He truly hated his crippled state. Even when he took the potion, he was still mostly blind.

Angel padded over and the sounds of liquid filling a paper cup could be heard.

“So, how’s the claiming going?” Spike asked with a suggestive tone.

“Do you really need to ask?” his sire deadpanned as he lifted the cup to Spike’s mouth. “So I was thinking…all this stuff that’s happened. I think it’s because of that spell we did.”

Surprised, Spike gulped the potion down, wincing at how strong the flavor was.

To Be Continued...