"Emu."

Xander jerked away and danced out of Anya's reach. "I let you slather what on my face?" He watched Anya sigh and impatiently tuck a lock of ginger hair behind her ear. Xander knew words like 'ginger' hair color because William was English. So was Xander's dad. Xander was an expert on weird English words that made people look at you funny when you used them with an American accent.

"Emu oil is a natural emollient, Xander. It will soak in and leave your skin touchably soft without greasy residue for William when he gets here."

"Touchably soft and smelling like an emu."

Anya sniffed at her fingertips, grimaced expressively, and went to the back of her Nature's Care Cosmetics cart to wash her hands.

"I mean, not that I have anything against William wanting to touch me, Ahn - but smelling like a big mean chicken? So not a turn-on."

"Well you could have said so before I put it on you. There's a nice papaya enzyme skin softener too."

Xander considered this and decided fruit salad was better than eau de emu. "Hit me." *William's gonna get here and the first thing he's going to say to me in person after two fucking years will be - 'is there fruit'? If there is a merciful deity, it will strike me down. Now.*

There wasn't - and soon Xander found himself smelling more like Carmen Miranda and less like Big Bird.

"It really is a shame you're gay, Xander. You have very nice skin and broad shoulders."

"I th-think William w-would disagree with you, Anya." Tara left her cart of crystals and herbs, books and parchment to join them. Together Nature's Care Cosmetics, The Witch Cart and Demon Magnet Comics had been blocking traffic in the purple wing of Sunnydale Towncenter Mall since 1999. The two years since had only strengthened the alliance - and Anya's belief in speaking her mind about every part of Xander's life.

"But he does have nice skin and broad shoulders."

Tara shook her head. "About b-b - " She bit her lip and turned big eyes to Xander, relaxed when he smiled.

"About being gay," Xander said helpfully and Tara nodded. "William likes me gay."

"Are you sure, Xander? I mean, he has been studying abroad for two years and it is very common for people to redefine their sexuality when they are away at - you hit me! Why did you hit me?" Anya looked at Tara with more confusion than pain.

"W-w-william w-will still be g-gay, Xander." Tara smelled like crushed herbs and patchouli and was warm when she hugged him and Xander didn't mind when Anya burrowed into the hug too. She was his girl. Or he was her Xander-shaped girl.

Tara had liked him from the start and he'd known Anya accepted him too after the first time she marched out of the women's bathroom and demanded he whack the tampon machine into submission because it'd taken her quarter without giving her the super-absorbency feminine hygiene product she'd paid for.

He'd blushed. But he'd done it and been rewarded with enough tampons to suck the mall fountain dry. Anya'd said it was a good bargain and bought him a hot chocolate.

Now, he was her favorite Tampax wrangler, coffee fetcher and new product test dummy.

Anya might not always follow the same script as the rest of the world but she was all right.

He buried his face in nice-smelling hair and cuddled soft, warm bodies close. "I know, Tara. He's been gone two years but I've talked to him every day since he left. He's still my William."

Head down, world filled with softness and long hair and sweetly undemanding closeness, Xander let go the noise and evening shuffle of Sunnydale Towncenter Mall. It wasn't as if anyone would urgently need a copy of the latest issue of Shanna, The She-Devil. Well, okay - Xander did have a couple of regular customers who might sometimes need urgent copies of that title but Xander tried hard not to think about them for longer than it took to make the sale.

Gay or not, Xander knew what titles sold and lately his comics cart had been doing a lot better than breaking even. He could afford to take a few minutes off for hugs and "Who wants a frothy, sugary drink from the Espresso Pump?"

Tara nodded happily but Anya gave Xander a pensively suspicious look.

"It's on me."

"Thank you, Xander. A half-caf iced latte, please. Two sugars."

"And for the lovely lady in blue?"

"Ch-chai, please. I'll w-watch your cart while you're gone." Tara gave Xander a gentle push in the direction of the Espresso Pump. This close to closing, there was no cart worker Xander knew who'd turn down a refreshing drink.

And if Xander didn't do something to work off some of his anticipation, William would have nothing to come home to but a nervous wreck and a great big comic book collection.

William William William

Xander shivered with all the memories thinking his name brought back.

Freshman year. Shy looks across a Physics text book.

Sophomore year. Not so shy tennis shoes tangling together under a lab table in Chemistry.

Junior year. Holding hands under the Biology table while William dissected their frog with his left hand and Xander wrote the results for their lab report with his right.

Senior year -

Xander had to stop and catch his breath. Somehow...somehow they had gone directly from holding hands and braving quick, clumsy kisses to tearing each other's clothes off in Xander's bedroom, knocking his Star Wars action figures off his dresser and tumbling onto Xander's bed in a messy, rutting tangle of gangly limbs, too wet kisses - coming in their pants before they could get them all the way open - coming from the idea of sex.

Then there had actually been sex of the messy and awkward and sometimes painful but always fun variety - and that was all before Christmas!

"Hi, Xander."

"Hey, Dawnie." Xander greeted the girl behind the counter with his best 'I am not thinking of sex right now' big brother smile. Her sister had been in his class and so out of his league when he was a clueless freshman but Dawn had come to school as a freshman his senior year and driven her sister crazy with her crush on him. Now, they were comrades in lousy mall jobs but that didn't mean Xander wanted her reading his mind when he was having naughty William sex thoughts.

"What do you want today?"

*A long weekend, William naked and a couple pints of slick.* "Large chai, large half-caf latte - two sugars and - " Xander had been about to order a hot chocolate but then he remembered - sweet-spicy winter kisses the year the air was so cold their breath steamed. His first taste of chai had been on William's lips. "Make it two large chais."

William William William.

Xander checked his watch. Half an hour before William's plane was due to land and another half hour to get his luggage and a ride to the mall.

One more hour.

He'd never last.

Because by the time he and William graduated, they'd had the hang of that sex thing and by the end of summer, they were blowing each others minds on a nightly basis.

Mr. Palmer and his five sons weren't the same after that even with the modern convenience of cybersex and naughty phone calls and voice mail messages that Xander had to rush home to listen to and delete before his dad heard them.

Rupert Giles may have been liberal but Xander was a traditionalist. Some things weren't meant to be shared with a guy's dad even when the guy's dad was his adopted dad and was from England and had probably done things with Ethan in their youth that Xander couldn't even spell.

The point was that naughty voice mail was one of those un-sharey things.

Xander was getting to the place where he got hard the second he heard William say 'hello' in that smooth, shy, sexy English accent - which was becoming a problem when William called him at work.

Xander owned many pairs of baggy pants in dark colors.

He paid for and collected the drinks, tightened down the lids because - Hey kids! Safety first! - and juggled the drinks back down the 'blue' wing, past the yapping electronic dogs in the window of the toy store and toward the 'purple' wing and his girls and lots more questions about William.

Yep.

He could do it.

Then in an hour, William would be there and they could go home to shag like weasels.

William had promised.

Ho boy had William promised.

If Xander had a free hand, he might have fanned himself.

Then he might have kept fanning himself when he caught sight of the guy browsing his comics. Tight black jeans. Skin tight black tee. Scuffed boots. Body that belonged on the glossy cover of something.

Radioactive white hair sticking up in 'every which way' tufts. A silver ring on every finger and both thumbs.

And nail polish.

Crouched down close to the bottom rack.

Where Xander kept the titles your average teenaged guy didn't have much interest in.

Xander's brain clattered through its calculations - *Gaydar activated, sir! We have our target in sight!* Not that Xander wanted the guy. The only guy Xander wanted was skinnier, with darker hair, glasses and named -

Anya snatched the drinks from Xander's hands before he could drop them.

"William?"

Tara grabbed the comic from William's painted fingers before he could drop it.

"Xan..."

William's voice.

William's eyes.

In the body and clothes of a fucking gorgeous stranger.

A fucking gorgeous stranger who closed the gap between them before Xander could take a single trembling step and kissed him - kissed -

*Kissing...kissing me...*

Xander sagged in William's arms, eyes closed. "William."

"I took an early flight, luv." The voice - the voice hadn't changed. Soft and sweet and full of enough emotion to make it shake. "Couldn't last another minute in that sodding airport bar." His hands ran through Xander's hair, warm and tingly - catching strands on his rings. "You've grown it long - god, bloody beautiful, you are."

"What the hell happened to you?" Xander blurted.

Slow blink. "Now that's a long story, pet. Sure you've got the time for it, what with business booming for the latest issue of Superbloke?" Slower smile that turned the land of Greater Xander to gooey mush and the peninsula of Lesser Xander into a land bridge begging permission to dock with the Isle of William and Geography had never been Xander's best subject.

But Lunch had been Xander's best subject so when William looked at him the way Xander looked at those tasty fudge things they used to serve on Fridays, Xander considered himself expert enough to interpret it. "Gimme five minutes to close up the cart," he croaked.

He was pulling down the security blinds when warm, big and nongirly hands closed on his waist, made him eep and shiver back into William's voice against his ear. "Been fantasizing about this since you told me about the cart, luv. Watching you bein' a proud businessman. Master of his destiny." The word master was accompanied by a thrust of William's hips that took Xander's breath away and left him wanting to master something other than business -

And oh god. Two years. Two years of nothing but one-handed typing and blessing hands-free cell phones - and now it felt like the first time all over again and Xander leaned hard against the cold metal of his cart and prayed he wouldn't humiliate himself.

Xander had very conflicty feelings when William stepped back and away - because the Lesser Xander Peninsula really didn't care that the middle of the mall was a bad place to get its groove on.

Somehow, he managed to lock the cash register with shaking hands and get all of the cash and credit slips into the bank pouch without dropping them all and shoved it into his bag. "I have to - " William was watching him and words deserted Xander like - like cowardly deserty things. He waved helplessly in the direction of the mall's administrative offices. "I'll be back."

"Counting on it, luv." William leaned against the cart, thumbs tucked into his belt loops in a way that framed - "Hurry back."

So not a problem.

But Xander did take a few quick, calming breaths outside the mall offices until he didn't look quite so much like a walking hat stand. Because all of that? The sexy pose, the sexy clothes - that was new.

The William he knew wore clothes as loose and shapeless as Xander's. Had glasses and messy hair. And was better at shy looks than fucking Xander with his gaze.

It was like expecting Harry Potter and getting Han Solo instead.

Xander looked at his own reflection in the office window - overlong dark brown hair, brown puppy eyes, funny shaped mouth and five o'clock shadow he wished he'd thought to shave before William got there.

Sexy William with the cheekbones to die for and eyes that looked even more blue without glasses between them.

Who was so out of Xander's league now.

Since Xander's league was Little League and William looked ready for the Majors.

But William talked to him every day - naughty talking with promises and need and an extra super-sized helping of lust. William still wanted him and that was just fine with Xander because Xander would be his bat boy any time.

Trading cash and credit slips (no checks - no exceptions) for a safer mall check, Xander jogged back through crowds of evening shoppers to find William letting Anya demonstrate hand creams on him.

"Emu?" Xander asked.

"Papaya enzyme."

Anya beamed at Xander and tucked away the jar. "I told you he would appreciate the fresh scent of perfectly ripe tropical papayas."

"We smell like fruit."

"We are fruits, pet." William wrapped his arm around Xander's waist, gave him another of those slow smiles that melted Xander from the inside out and made his bones thrum. William pulled Xander against himself hard enough to make Xander gasp, lowered his voice so far Xander barely heard the creak of desperation in it. "Let's go home, Xan. Yeah? Need you."

"Crazy English guy. You could have anyone in this mall." And William had found his neck - was nibbling his neck and neck nibbles were so not a phone sex thing. No - no way and no comparison and bad William starting the naughty neck nibbling nookie in front of his co-workers. Don't stop.

"Don't want anyone." William mumbled against his throat, vibration and heat, moisture and sharp sharp teeth Xander knew were leaving a mark. "Want you."

"So convinced." Sharp tingly sucking on his neck, hurty-achy in that so good way and Xander was putty in William's arms.

Anya snapped her cell phone shut and gave Xander and William a push. "Yellow Cab will be waiting for you outside the main purple wing entrance in five minutes."

"G-good night, Xander." Tara tucked a small brown paper bag into Xander's back pack and smiled a shyly wicked smile at them.

"Happy sexual reunion, Xander and William. We'll hang a sign on your cart if you decide to take tomorrow off."

After their final goodbyes William looked to Xander, a shyness in his expression Xander had been watching for without knowing it since the moment William turned around. "She always that subtle, luv?"

"No. Usually, she's amazingly blunt." William's hand was warm in Xander's, callused across the fingertips and the inside of his thumb, rough along the soft tissues of his palm. It used to be soft all over except for - Xander stopped walking and lifted William's hand to examine it, smiling in relief when he found the familiar writing callus still intact, rubbed his thumb over it. "Where's my poem?"

"In a trash bin somewhere in Chicago O'Hare airport. Sodding hell - that's our cab." Tugging Xander's hand, William broke into a jog and they covered the last of the distance in silence.

But William hadn't let go of Xander's hand.

And Xander hadn't let go of William's.



Xander hadn't let go of William's hand all the way to the house he shared with his dad and wicked step-Ethan. 'There's four rooms down, two up. They live downstairs but the top floor is mine. I - '

'Don't have to explain, pet. Gotta live frugally if you want to save money, yeah?'

And Xander had fallen a little more in love with William. Living upstairs from Rupert and Ethan wasn't pathetic and he wasn't a loser. He was a frugal guy with a plan and a dream - and that thought should so not be making Xander want to rip William's clothes off and fuck him into next Sunday.

Xander admitted to himself that William could say 'it looks like rain' and Xander would want to fuck him into next Sunday.

So why was it - now the two of them were alone in Xander's upstairs suite - that Xander didn't have a single word and didn't know what to do with his hands, his feet or his eyes.

"I'm nervous," William admitted - about the only two words on the planet that could have made Xander look up, look into his eyes and hold that gaze long enough to see the truth of it.

Two years.

And it was like the first time all over again.

"Still want to fuck?"

"God yes, Xan."

Those words were all it took for Xander to drop to his knees, shake and tremble his way over William's jeans - fumble his way through opening his very first button fly, nearly flicking himself in the eye with the heavy leather of William's belt. But he hesitated before pulling the flies apart, pressed his forehead against William's hip to steady himself. "I haven't - I mean..." Xander ducked his head. "This might - not be very good."

William let out a short bark of laughter and wound his hands into Xander's hair, tugging until he looked up into pupils so wide they almost swallowed up the blue entirely. "'S already good. God touch me anywhere and I'll come, luv I swear - please don't make me wait longer."

Xander looked up with surprise he hadn't expected until he felt it. "You really waited?"

"No one but you for me, is there?" Soft voice, desperate voice - and a thrust of William's hips and the wet warmth of slick flesh sliding along Xander's cheek and the heavy scent of musk and salt that made Xander tingle all the way down to his balls.

"No one," Xander echoed and took William in shaking hands - velvety skin, over hard and hot that made his hands ache and mouth water in a way his dick didn't. Made his throat and ass want the way they never told you about in Sex Ed.

And two years melted like William's flavor on his tongue and he didn't know who was whimpering and who was moaning just clutched William in both hands. Lick and circle and suck - warm and musky-salt and what he swore was the taste of tea - just like he remembered but better because it was real. And William bucked, sobbed, came hard, fast and messy when Xander didn't swallow in time, choked and spluttered and blushed flaming red when he felt William's come dripping down his chin, smeared across his cheek and slicked between two pairs of desperate lips and hungry tongues when William dropped to his knees and kissed him.

"Sodding hell - sodding hell, Xan. Need your skin." William's hands were clumsy - always had been clumsy right after he came. They looked so delicate, so skilled but on another body they were all needy, desperate, hungry. Then they were pulling Xander's shirt off, fumbling their way into loose blue pants and Count Duckula boxer shorts.

And wherever Xander's brain went when the naughty touching started, it was there now because next thing Xander knew, he was on his back on the floor, pants around his ankles, shirt gone and William was naked - straddling him and looking so goddamned shy and sexy and fragile Xander wanted to fuck him and cuddle him. And it looked like he was gonna get the chance when William's nervous hands set a bottle on his chest.

Xander squinted at it. "Tropical coconut massage and body oil?"

"Your - your bird said it was...best for the slick. Natural like...for two blokes who don't need latex between them."

"Anya?"

William nodded hesitantly.

"You asked Anya for sex advice?"

"Not asked exactly." William cut Xander off before he could protest again, clamped a hand firmly over his mouth and shuddered when Xander's lips parted against it and he suckled the tender skin of William's palm in warm pulses. "Don't care where it came from, luv. Reckon you remember what to do with it?"

Xander could feel William stiffening again - twitch and rock against his belly, alongside his cock - and closed his fingers convulsively around the bottle as his heartbeat kicked up a notch, made the room spin around them. "Yeah. I remember what to do."

From William's gasp at the first brush of Xander's slicked fingers over his hole, Xander remembered how slow they had to take it and how messy it got when it was two bodies rutting against each other, in each other.

But at the first tight spasm of William's flesh around Xander's fingers, he remembered why it was worth it - remembered how hot and sweaty and messy and achy painful was so good.

Remembered how William's eyes fogged over, remembered how he bit his lip and pushed against the head of Xander's dick - remembered the sharp cry William could never hold back when he was penetrated because William was doing it all right now and Xander's head was gonna pop right off his shoulders because it was so hottightslick inside William and outside William, those fine fine hands were never still.

It didn't matter if there was black nail polish on William's fingernails now because his hands grasped and clutched at Xander's shoulders just the way he remembered.

Even when Xander pulled back too far and slipped out, bumped along William's thigh and the crease of his hip and two pairs of shaking hands tried to grope Xander's too-slippery cock into William's too-tight hole and Xander came from the groping, came on the outside it wasn't bad. William only groaned, swore desperately and locked their fingers together, fucked their joined fists with desperate abandon until he shuddered hard, support arm giving out and dropping him down onto Xander's chest hard enough to knock the breath from them both.

They lay there panting. Sticky - still half hard and at least two counties over from the nearest sated state. And only some of the wet slicking between them was oil - oil and come and a little blood and the room reeked of sex and the tropics and maybe the sex wasn't perfect - but god it was good.

"Xan?"

Xander floated back to himself slowly, floated back down to earth and squishy slick slide of skin on skin which was pretty nice if he didn't think about how it'd all dry. Found William's eyes close enough to his that he could see the rims of his contact lenses and the flecks of gold scattered through the blue that were so much more prominent right after sex. Xander blinked once for yes.

"Reckon your dad and Ethan would mind a lodger?"

Brain out of order. Please rephrase question. "Huh?"

"Suppose a fellow transferred back to UC Sunnydale to be with the bloke he loved. Doesn't own much. Doesn't eat much. Leaves wet towels on the floor but you can't have everything - " William put up no resistance when Xander rolled them over, only blinked up at him with the beginning of a shy smile and enthusiastically answered Xander kiss for kiss.