Chapter 9

"There's a demon coming to kill me?" asked Xander, rubbing at his eyes. He was way too tired to deal with this, but there was nothing for it now. "Any particular reason, or just because it's Tuesday?"

"They weren't all that clear on the why or the how," replied Tor. "I probably should have asked."

"Don't worry about it," said Xander. He wasn't entirely sure if there really was a demon or if the girls hadn't just wanted to make sure he didn't disappear again. Why else would they send a jumpy guy with a crossbow, and not a Buffy with a sword. So, yeah, probably lying. Now he just had to make sure Tor didn't tell them anything.

He should probably also take the alpha whammy off of Tor, but not until he made the guy promise.

"Tor?" he said. "Are you going to tell Buffy and Willow about where I life?" He let power lightly lace through his voice, so much that when Tor answered, his face was slack and his voice flat.

"No," he said. "I won't tell them what you don't want them to know."

Weird answer, but okay. Perhaps he ought to mention the lingering effects of the spell to Giles. Then again, Giles might think he was still possessed and he did not enjoy those naked weird rituals. He was totally through with waking up naked on a cold cement floor. Unless there was sex first. That would be okay.

"Thanks, Tor," he said. "Why don't you crash on the couch tonight?" He tried to lift the whammy as much as he could to let Tor rest. He could probably whammy Tor to sleep, actually, but that seemed like an abuse of power.

Apparently Tor was truly tired, though, because he fell asleep almost immediately. Good. Xander didn't exactly have a blanket to throw over the other boy, so he spread a coat over him and hoped that would be enough.

And there was his own bed. Filthy, gross, and so very depressing. Xander climbed in gingerly, trying not to wake the bedbugs or rats or whatever. He missed his home. He really hated thinking that, but he couldn't help it. He was fifteen. If all he wanted was to curl up next to his mother until the world went away, then that was okay. That was forgivable.

Admitting it didn't make his heart hurt any less, though.

*

As far as Kyle could tell, Buffy had stayed outside his house all night. When he got down for breakfast, she was sitting at their kitchen table, chatting with his mother, and just generally confirming his worst nightmares.

"Morning Mom," he said. He then nodded to the interloper. "Hey Buffy, what're you doing here?"

Buffy giggled. "Did you forget?" she simpered. "We're walking to school together, Kyle."

His mom looked way too happy about this. Kyle had no intention of interrupting her as she planned his and Buffy's wedding, so he let the lie alone and sat down beside the vicious harpy at the table.

"Oh right," he said, continuing the deception, and damn was Buffy good at this. "Forgive me?" He batted his eyelashes at her. She snorted.

"Ham," she coughed.

He laughed, then applauded as his mother brought over two servings of waffles and eggs. His mom was awesome. Buffy appeared to agree, because she dove right into the food and wow that girl could eat. Kinda scary, really.

Too much breakfast later, they were officially running late for school. His mom hustled them out the door, shoving backpacks and bag lunches at them both. They staggered off the porch in a daze.

"Wow," said Buffy. "Your mom is intense."

"You have no idea," he sighed. "She's probably naming out children right now. Good job, but the way."

"Thanks! And from your comment, I take it that you haven't told your parents about the whole gay thing yet."

"That would be a big no." Kyle shifted his backpack and they turned on to Second Street." Ever. A big never.

"Bummer." She sounded truly sympathetic there, and he was pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah." He let the topic drop. There was a more important issue here. "Why are you walking me to school anyway?"

She laughed. "Can you imagine what Xander would do to me if I let his boyfriend get eaten?"

Umm, no, he couldn't. "Boyfriend?"

"Uh, yeah, Kyle. Boyfriend. Or do you make out with everyone in the Janitor's closet?"

Point to the blonde. "You know about that?"

"Everyone knows about it. Except Willow, which is good because she might get all defensive and uncomfortable."

"And you're cool with it?" Because he seemed to recall copious amounts of glaring and protesting and general bitchiness. Why the sudden reversal?

"I'm from LA, Kyle. Gay is nothing new. Possessed by hyenas and gay? Now that is new."

Fair. He could allow that. "Hence the freaking?" he asked, because, logical or not, he needed to be reassured that he wasn't about to get gay bashed.

"Hey," she said, "I just happen to not like it when demons try to screw up my friends. I think that's reasonable."

So did Kyle.

*

Tor had never slept as well as he did on the ratty old couch in the House on Mulberry Street. He didn't really want to examine that too closely. Xander wasn't up yet, but he could tell that school had already started. Apparently Xander didn't believe in alarm clocks. Then again, where would he plug one in? Shit, this place was a dump.

Heh. Shit, dump. Okay, he really needed to get up, get Xander up, and get them to school, hopefully without getting eaten by a monster. He fell off of the couch and stumbled into the kitchen. Food? Anywhere? Tor was a big proponent of breakfast, but all he could find in the kitchen was half a loaf of Wonderbread and some peanut butter. That was just sad.

This whole thing was sad, for that matter. What the hell was Xander doing living in an abandoned house and eating peanut butter sandwiches. He walked into the bedroom, and that was even worse. Xander was sprawled in the middle of a broken down mattress, with a few changes of clothes scattered on the floor. It was pathetic and depressing. How long had he been living here?

As if feeling Tor's scrutiny, Xander stirred and rolled over, his eyes catching on the other boy in the doorway. "You're still here?" he mumbled as he sat up.

And, ouch, that hurt. Still, Xander could be mostly forgiven on the grounds of still-sleepy grouchiness. "Good morning to you too, sunshine." Xander groaned. "Isn't anyone going to notice if you're late?"

Xander shrugged and got out of the bed. "Not really," he said. "I'm failing all my classes anyway, so it's no big if I fail a little faster." Yup. Definitely depressing. Tor'd never been so happy to be himself in his life. At least someone cared, even if it was half-hearted and tired. He had a sudden urge to go home and hug his mother. Seriously.

Tor wasn't about to touch the topic of Xander's very shitty life, not even with a ten-foot Teflon pole. Instead, he focused on the here and now. "We should probably get ready for school. Where's the bathroom?"

"Over by the stairs, I think." Xander shrugged. "There's no water, though, so it's not like it works."

No running water, peanut butter sandwiches, Tor couldn't take it anymore. "Dude, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Got kicked out," was Xander's succinct answer.

Tor supposed that would explain it, but that didn't make anything better. "That's just messed up," he offered.

"I know," Xander sighed.

He wanted to say something comforting or relevant, but he had absolutely no idea what that would be. He saved from an answering by a rustling outside. "What was that?"

"Hmm?" Xander wasn't paying attention. Dammit, this was the kind of thing people should pay attention to!

"That!" yelled Tor. "That creepy, shifty whooshing sound. Can't you hear that?"

Xander tensed. "Yes," he said. "I can."

He stood, finished pulling his shirt on and grabbed a knife from Tor didn't know where. "When I tell you," Xander said, "run."

"What?"

"Just do it!" Xander yelled as the thing making the noise burst into the room.

Tor didn't run.