Xander woke up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely. He'd had another dream, but unlike the other times, he couldn't recall it. Just the heat and the pain. Worse than ever before. Normally when he had had the dreams, he felt the warmth of the fire and an echo of emotions. But nothing like this.

He could almost hear the anguished screams inside his head. The pain was incomparable. It was like nothing he had ever experienced, or could ever imagine anyone ever living through. His skin felt as though it was on fire, burning him from the inside.

Xander climbed out of bed and pulled on his shoes. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he was outside, on Willow's porch. He looked up into the sky and marveled at how clear it was.

He had never before taken the time to just look at the sky. But he did now, and it seemed so still and silent. As if it knew the frail edge he was balancing on. His heart was hammering painfully in his chest, as he struggled to remind himself that it was just a dream. It wasn't real.

But that was part of the problem, wasn't it? It was real. It had been real. The screams he heard were real. The heat, which seared his skin, was real. The anguish and pain he felt was real. It was all real.

Shaking his head from the pain of the memories, which were suddenly clear inside his own mind, Xander ran. At first he didn't know where he was going, not consciously. But before too long, he found himself standing in front of the mansion.

It loomed largely in the darkness, lighted only by the full moon. Xander froze momentarily, unsure of what he was doing. His fear and confusion only ruled him for a moment though.

He pushed open the front door and entered the mansion, looking around the empty area. The fireplace was empty and their wasn't any sign of Angel, despite the lateness of the hour. The room was chilly and Xander felt the temperature start to cool his heated skin.

He was still sweating, and the chilly atmosphere only barely registered. He pulled his shirt over his head and set it down on the lone couch in the room. Walking to the double doors, which led outside, Xander was careful not to make too much noise as he opened them to the garden on the side of the house.

Closing the door behind him, Xander stared up into the starless night, marveling at how different it looked from here, as opposed to the view outside of Willow's house. He continued staring, letting the still night calm his heartbeat and sooth him.

*****

Angel woke up with the knowledge that he was not alone. He wasn't sure what it was that alerted him to the presence. Maybe it was some sixth sense he wasn't aware he possessed. Or maybe it was just due to the connection he felt with this mortal. But whatever it was, he recognized the presence for what it was.

Xander

He was in the house. And he was tense. He could feel the stress radiating from him, and he wondered what had happened to upset him. When he realized what it must be, his silent heart lurched in his chest.

Climbing out of bed and throwing on a pair of boxers, Angel walked out towards the garden. He didn't even stop anywhere else in the house. He knew, instinctively where he would find him. He was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

Angel approached the double doors, which led to the garden silently. He watched Xander through the glass doors. He was sitting on one of the stone benches looking up into the sky. If it weren't for the rapid beat of the mortal's heart, Angel would have thought Xander had fallen asleep.

Stepping outside, Angel came to stand behind Xander and looked up into the night sky. There weren't any stars and the moon shown brightly in the curtain of black.

"It's beautiful." Angel whispered.

Xander tensed slightly at the softly spoken words. "Did I wake you?" He asked, still looking skyward.

Angel came around and sat down next to Xander, trying not to stare at his naked chest. "No. Well. maybe." He admitted.

Xander turned to look at the vampire and noticed that Angel was wearing even less than he was. A pair of boxers, and that's it. He forced his eyes back up to Angel's face. "Sorry. I. I didn't want to wake you." He stood up. "I'll leave."

"No." Angel grabbed the mortal's wrist, preventing him from disappearing into the house. "Stay. Please."

Xander hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Okay." He sat back down and looked back into the sky.

"You want to talk about it?" Angel asked quietly after several minutes.

"I couldn't sleep." Xander whispered back. He turned to look at the vampire, and their eyes met, and locked. "How about you?" He spoke quietly, hoping his voice didn't sound as husky as he thought it did.

"Me?" Angel asked, trying to remember what they were talking about. Xander smiled and looked away, breaking their contact. "How are you sleeping?

Angel looked away from the mortal, who suddenly held more fascination than he had ever remembered showing anything before. "Good. I haven't had any dreams."

Xander nodded. "That's good." He stood up and made his way back into the house. He needed to get some distance between him and the vampire. He didn't understand what was going on and wasn't in any condition to try and figure it out.

"You should try and get some sleep." Angel's voice startled Xander. He hadn't heard the vampire come inside.

"Yeah. I'll. uh. I'll sleep out here." Xander motioned towards the couch.

"Take the spare bedroom." Angel placed a hand on Xander's shoulder and then removed it immediately when he felt the searing heat from the touch.

Xander turned around. "You sure?" He asked.

Angel nodded, unsure if he could get his mouth to move. They were standing so close now Angel could feel the heat coming off of Xander's body.

Xander turned back around and headed down the hall. He stepped into the bedroom. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, sighing heavily. He didn't question how it was he knew which bedroom was the spare and which was Angel's. He ran a hand through his hair idly as he walked across the room to open the window. He was still burning up and felt as though he was going to melt at any moment. He could still feel the flames from his dream, scorching him.

Lying down on the bed, Xander closed his eyes. He was exhausted, and thankful for the bed to sleep on. The couch wouldn't have been near as comfortable, although Xander acknowledged the fact that he would have slept almost as soundly, if only for the reason that he was in the same house as the man who had haunted his dreams for weeks.

He fell asleep in seconds, his worries and concerns about what was happening to him in the back of his mind.

****

Angel stood outside the bedroom door until he heard Xander's heartbeat return to its normal speed and his breathing level out. Once he had returned to his own bedroom and lay down on his own bed, the vampire tried to analyse what it was what happening between he and Xander. He didn't know what it was about the mortal that effected him so.

However, he was aware that this change in his relationship with Xander didn't start with his return from Hell. Certainly something had changed since then. Some invisible connection between the two. Some link they now shared. But he had always been keenly aware of the mortal boy. Ever since their first meeting.

He had been wary to understand it at first. His life had held such confusion for him since the curse, and his belief that the Slayer was his salvation had driven him to block out certain things which he now realized weren't as random or unimportant as he had previously believed.

But things were different now. He was different, and somehow so was Xander. He didn't know exactly what that meant, and wasn't certain he wanted to find out. He didn't know what that knowledge would mean. Would it change things? Would finding out the reason behind it all make it different? Make them different?

Angel's thoughts were cut off mid stride as he felt an intense wave of pain pass through him. It was so powerful he was frozen in terror for a moment. When the moment passed, he shot out of bed and ran down the hall. He didn't bother to knock as he entered the bedroom.

Xander was lying across the top of the bed, still wearing his jeans, but little else. A sheen of sweat could be seen glisten on his bare chest. His body was shaking slightly as he took large gasps of breath and Angel could hear his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

"Xander." Angel lay a gentle hand on Xander's chest, right over his heart.

The mortal didn't seem to notice. Angel tried to ignore the intense heat radiating off of the mortal body as it shook. Without thinking too hard about what he was doing, the vampire pulled the mortal into his arms.

Almost immediately his own cool skin was scorched by the heat from the mortal. It had been centuries since he had been this close to another person, but he was certain that this wasn't normal.

Xander was still asleep, that much was certain, but the tremors were racking his body and Angel was almost incapacitated by the intense wave of pain and fear and anguish going through him. And the heat. It was almost unbearable, bringing forth memories Angel had tried to forget.

Making a decision, the vampire picked Xander up and carried back into his own room, where he would be safe once the sun rose. He climbed into his own bed, keeping his own body wrapped around the mortals, hoping the coolness of it would some how douse the heat which was permeating Xander.

He slipped into an uneasy sleep, wondering what it was his mortal had been dreaming about to cause this reaction.

****

Xander woke up with the decidedly unfamiliar although not unpleasant sensation of being wrapped in coolness. He opened his eyes slightly, unsure of what he would find.

His heart skipped a beat, or possible several at the sight which greeted him. He was in Angel's bed, with Angel's body wrapped tightly around him. There was no way for him to leave without waking the vampire. But suddenly he realized what it was that stuck foremost in his mind about waking up in this position.

It wasn't the nearly naked man of his dreams he was lying with, or even the coolness of that body which was offsetting his own heat. It wasn't the confusion over how he had ended up in Angel's bed or the knowledge that something had obviously happened while he slept. No, what stood out in his mind most of all was the safety.

That feeling he had never known, until know. That knowledge that he was safe and that nothing would harm him. He hadn't known safety or love or reassurance in his life and as unusual as the feeling was, it wasn't surprising. Somehow he had known that being in Angel's arms would feel like this.

It was good to be right, every once in awhile.

Xander closed his eyes and relaxed into the strong arms and returned to peaceful oblivion.

****

Willow knocked softly on the door leading into the spare bedroom. When there was no answer she knocked a little louder. "Xander."

"He's gone."

Willow turned around and saw Faith standing at the end of the hall. She was wearing a tank top, a pair of underwear and nothing else. Willow felt her cheeks flushing as she struggled to remember what she was going to say.

"Where." Willow cleared her throat. "Where is he?"

Faith grinned, decidedly pleased at the effect she was having. She shrugged. "Don't know. He ran out of here in the middle of the night." She turned around and headed down the stairs. "If I had to guess, I'd say Xan's doing the horizontal mambo with that no-so-evil anymore creature of the night."

Willow followed her down the hall, trying to ignore the sight of Faith's hips as they moved and concentrating on what she was saying. "Angel? No, I don't think so. He wouldn't just leave like that. Unless."

"Unless what?" Faith asked as she entered the kitchen and started the coffee.

"Unless he had another dream. You don't think Angel has anything to do with those do you?"

Faith looked confused for a moment and Willow smiled and looked apologetic. "Xan's been having these dreams on and off for the past several weeks. He thinks I don't know about it, but he never could hide anything. Especially not when he talks in his sleep." She grinned.

Faith laughed, remembering a night not too long ago when they had had a small get together at their house. Cordelia, Oz and Xander had come over to watch some movies. About halfway through the first movie Xander had fallen asleep and proceeded to recount the details of a rather interesting dream.

He had been mumbling about the intense heat and something about a fire. The group had assumed it had something to do with the viewing of 'Backdraft' from earlier in the day and had laughed about how susceptible their friend was to outside influence.

Now though, Faith starting thinking about that night and the few nights he had stayed over since then. He often woke up in the middle of the night, looking as though he had been put the ringer. She wasn't an expert on dreams, or much of anything else, but it seemed to be more than a coincidence to her.

"Maybe." Faith commented as she began to poor the coffee. "You better get ready. I seriously doubt G's gonna be pleased about Xan's news."

Willow paled slightly. "No. He won't." She took the coffee and headed back up to her room to finish getting ready for school. All the while trying to think of a way to explain to Giles the fact that not only was Angel back, but that there seemed to be something going on between he and Xander.

"Oh, Goddess." She sighed to herself. "What am I going to tell him?"

Next Part