Xander stretched lazily in bed and smiled before curling against Angel as his mind wandered back to earlier that night - which had been wonderful. Angel had agreed to see Shrek 2 with him and had actually seemed to enjoy it. Normally, Xander would have been scared by this, but this once had decided to brush it aside.

Snuggling under the covers and closer to his lover, Xander's mind wandered. He couldn't believe how good things had become for him.

After Sunnydale had been destroyed, the group had laid low for a while – healing and trying to figure out what to do next. A couple of the new Slayers went home while the others stayed to help however they could. Then the group seemed to scatter to the four winds – Giles and Andrew to England, Buffy and Dawn to Rome, the others to who knew where else. Xander had thought about going with them, but couldn't bring himself to leave the country. So, in the end, he landed in Los Angeles, though he couldn't figure out what had possessed him to go there. For a while he did his own thing – some slaying, mostly vamps, and working as many odd jobs as he could to make ends meet.

Somewhere along the way he met up with Angel and started working with him and his crew. The doing of which caused a few minor heart attacks; among which were ex-Watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's evolution, the fact that Spike wasn't dead – well, any more than normal, and that Cordy was in a coma.

And while he would've like to say that his and Angel's relationship had picked up where they left off so many years before, it would've been a lie. They had both matured too much since then to keep up with the petty quarreling. What started out as a tentative friendship slowly turned into more as Xander became an unexpected confidant to the vampire - more so because he wasn't as close to the others, as well as current and past events, than any other reason. After that, things took their natural course and soon the two men were in a relationship, even if it took a lot of work on Angel's part to calm Xander down after Xander's realization that he was gay, or, at the very least, attracted to Angel. Afterwards, things went smoothly for the next couple of months – all things considered.

While, prior to the huge battle, Xander had been furious that Angel wouldn't let him go out with everyone, he understood that he was needed at the safe house to tend to everyone as they came back. Around 2 am, he had started to worry - aside from Lorne stopping by briefly to say goodbye, no one else had come back yet. At about 3, he understood why. Angel, Spike and Illyria stumbled into the safe house, Illyria carrying Wesley's body, and Angel carrying Gunn's.

After that night, Angel withdrew into himself as the four struggled to start over. Xander did everything he could think of and even everything Spike grudgingly thought of, but nothing seemed to work to pull Angel back. The amount of time Xander was spending with Angel did finally seem to register and Angel tried to force Xander to go out and do something. Xander only agreed after a lengthy argument in which he made Angel agree to go with him to a movie.

Xander blatantly overlooked Angel's grumbling all the way to the theatre and during the previews; focusing on the fact that he had finally gotten Angel out of their dark apartment for the first time in weeks. It didn't take long before Xander heard a familiar snort of amusement from the vampire. By the end of the movie, Angel was laughing along with the rest of the audience. As they headed out of the theatre, Xander considered the night a success. They walked home quietly, stopping for ice cream cones along the way, but otherwise simply comfortable in each other's company.

In the hallway outside of Angel's elevator, Angel pushed Xander up against the wall and kissed him, taking Xander's breath away - both literally and figuratively. "Thank you," he said simply.

"You're welcome," Xander replied as he wrapped his arms around Angel. "So how about we..." He trailed off as he looked at the elevator.

"Or we could just do it here," Angel replied as he pressed his body against Xander's. "Sex in a semi-public place is something you haven't done yet."

"As much as I would like to – no."

"No?" Angel looked confused. "Why not?"

Xander moved an arm so he could put a hand on Angel's cheek. "It's not something you need right now."

Angel's brow furrowed even more. "It's not?"

"No, it isn't. You've hardly touched me in the past two and a half weeks. I'm not going to let us get reacquainted against a wall outside of your elevator."

"Oh. Well..." Angel trailed off looking stumped.

Xander kissed Angel chastely on the lips before whispering, "Take me to bed, honey."

Angel let out a breath and smiled before saying, "Okay, I can do that." And a few moments later, they were up in Angel's apartment.

As the elevator door closed behind them, Xander gently kissed Angel as he unbuttoned Angel's shirt, caressing the skin beneath it as the fabric opened to reveal Angel's muscular chest. Xander felt Angel shiver as he kissed him back, Angel's hands gently caressing over the top of Xander's t-shirt. After he finished with the buttons, Xander kissed his way down Angel's neck, causing the vampire to moan as Xander hit where his pulse point would have been. Xander slid the shirt over Angel's broad shoulders before gently undoing the cuffs and kissing each palm as he did so. Angel shuddered before pulling Xander's shirt off over his head and pulling the human to him. Their hands roamed in whispering caresses over familiar territory as they got reacquainted with each other's body. Xander dipped his hands beneath the waistband of Angel's pants, caressing his ass and pulling him closer.

"Bed," Xander whispered and Angel nodded. They shed the rest of their clothing and stretched out on the bed on their sides, facing each other. "I've missed you so much," he murmured as he ran a hand over Angel's hip and thigh.

"You should've said something," Angel replied as he trailed a hand down Xander's arm. "I shouldn't have neglected you."

"It's okay. They were a more important part of your life for a longer time than I was."

"But that doesn't give me any excuse to –"

Xander put a finger over Angel's lips. "Not now. Make love to me."

Angel smiled. "I'd love to."

Angel pushed Xander down and rolled on top of him, kissing him more gently than Xander had ever thought possible as he slowly rubbed his erection against Xander's. As their breathing accelerated, Xander pulled the lube from its customary place under Angel's pillow and handed it to the vampire. Angel gladly took it and quickly opened it, hardly breaking contact with his lover. He spread some on his fingers and carefully pressed one into Xander's waiting anus. As he began pumping it in and out, Xander's eyes closed and his breathing became shallower as he eagerly thrust against Angel, feeling him slowly add more fingers. He was helpless to do anything beside writhe beneath his lover's touch, aching for it now that he finally had it again. As Angel slowly teased the fire that was building, Xander felt Angel take the head of his cock in his mouth, causing him to immediately buck into Angel's mouth, and felt it slide all the way in before Angel ever so slowly released it, his tongue gently running up the underside as he did so. Xander moaned and twisted his hands tighter in the sheets. When he got to the tip, he sucked it and flicked his tongue over it, and Xander whimpered in response, not sure how much longer he could last. Xander gasped when Angel carefully ran a fang over the sensitive head and came. After swallowing the salty cum and playfully licking the head clean, and thereby getting a few appreciative moans from Xander, Angel kissed Xander's stomach just below his belly button.

When he looked up at Xander, Xander simply smiled and nodded. Angel moved up and carefully positioned his lubed cock at the entrance to Xander's prepared anus. After positioning Xander's legs, Angel slowly pushed into Xander's waiting channel, letting out a soft moan as Xander's ass reflexively clenched around him. After Xander relaxed his grip, Angel began a slow, methodical pace, with each thrust going deep and brushing against Xander's prostate. Xander urged Angel on with a combination of nails along his back and ass, kisses to whatever patch of skin his lips could reach, clenching his ass around Angel's cock, and the softest, yet most urgent, of moans. By the time Angel came inside him, Xander was hard again and climaxed at the same time.

"Love you," he whispered after Angel pulled out of him and wiped them both off with a bedsheet corner.

"Love you too," Angel replied as he pulled a cover over top of them. The pair snuggled together and fell asleep.

"Don't hurt the kitty!"

Xander snapped out of his reverie. There was a worried look on his lover's face and a few whimpers escaped Angel's lips. Xander reached up and stroked Angel's cheek. The vampire's eyes slowly opened.

"You okay there, big guy?" Xander asked softly.

"Yeah, just a dream," Angel replied gruffly, voice still sleepy.

"You sure?"

"Positive." Angel smiled and kissed Xander's hand before turning on his side. "Go back to sleep."

Xander wrapped an arm around Angel and spooned behind him. Things were definitely good.