L.A. was quiet tonight and Angel returned early from patrol, glad to have a night to himself. Cordelia was off somewhere with Gru, Gunn was helping out at the kids' shelter and Wesley had a date. All his little chicks had flown the coop and he couldn't wait to enjoy the peace and quiet. He moved through the lobby of the hotel, when suddenly he smelled blood and fear. He looked around and to his surprise; sitting on the lounger was a very beat up Xander Harris.

Angel walked in and flinched when Xander turned to him. His face was a mess and it looked like he might have a stab wound or two. "Xander, what the hell happened to you and what the hell are you doing in L.A.?" Angel growled at the boy. The sight of what someone had done to the boy was beginning to seriously piss him off, and his demon was screaming for vengeance. "Helloo to you to, Deadboy" Xander panted, trying not to pass out from the pain. He leaned over a little more on the lounger, the blood loss making him shaky, and tried to smile. Angel replied "Hello Xander. Now tell me who did this to you and what you are doing here?" "Long story…do you think you could patch me up first, I think I may be bleeding to death here…" Xander gasped.

Angel immediately went to the emergency medical supplies and then walked over to Xander. He could see the blood pooling under the skin of Xander's face, but he couldn't see the stab wounds through Xander's arm. Gently he moved the arm and almost gasped himself as the two wounds started to gush blood. "Xander, you need to go to the hospital, this is too extensive for just me to patch up" Angel said. "No, please, no hospital…just use your superpowers and get the bleeding to stop" Angel glanced sharply at Xander, wondering if the boy understood what he was asking. "Xander…" Angel started to speak. "Just fracking do it Angel. I know what I'm asking!" Xander exclaimed.

Angel pulled Xander's shirt up and off, concentrating on the wounds themselves. "Okay, I'm doing this but if you have internal bleeding…" Angel said. "Yeah yeah Xan-Man gone for good. I get it. Now just do it would you?" Xander exclaimed. Angel leaned down and the smell of the boy's blood was intoxicating. He slowly began to lap and suckle the wounds, the saliva healing the flesh as he cleaned the boy from the blood. Using his sense of taste, he didn't think Xander was bleeding internally. He continued to lick the wounds, the act beginning to have an erotic effect on Angel. It had been so long since he had this much human blood straight from the source. His mouth moved over the tight abs of Xander's stomach, licking and sucking until he felt the wounds begin to close. His mouth followed a puddle of blood in Xander's navel, and Angel shuddered as he licked it up and followed the line of hair down Xander's body. He felt Xander shiver, and could see through the boy's jeans that he found this as erotic as Angel did. Right now Angel was so hard it was difficult to stop, but soon Xander placed his hands on Angels' face and whispered, "Enough".

Angel pulled away, making sure he hadn't missed anything. His gaze travelled upwards and he could see the lust in Xander's eyes, something he never thought to see. "Wow" Xander said, dazed by the look in Angel's eyes. "I tried to explain…"said Angel. "It's ok. Just didn't expect that. Not that I didn't like it, I just didn't know it would feel that way…and I'm shutting up now." Xander stammered.

Angel leaned back, taking an unneeded breathe, and said "Who did this to you?" Xander lowered his head the beatingwasfrommyparents and the stab wound from a demon I ran into on the way over." Xander said quickly. Angel was shocked. Why was Xander in a position to run into a demon, and since when did his parents beat on him? "God Xander, what happened? And slow down this time. So your face is from your parents and the stab wounds from a demon. What kind of demon and where?' Angel asked. "Okay… my dad got really mad when he caught me and a friend making out in my basement bedroom and then accused me of stealing money from them. He just started wailing on me. He was drunk, really drunk so this time it was harder to make him stop. I finally pushed him back and popped him one in the face, which knocked him over. So he looks up at me and says "Get out"" Xander stopped. He took a deep breath and continued "I knew he really meant it this time, so I grabbed as much of my stuff as I could and walked out the door. I can't go back Angel. I'm homeless." Xander said his voice cracking.

Angel wanted to do more than hit the man who was Xander's father, but he knew that would just make the situation worse. What he didn't understand was why Buffy and Willow weren't taking care of the boy. Had they had a falling out too?

"So what brought you to L.A. where a demon got you? Why isn't Buffy and Willow taking care of you?" Angel asked calmly. "I couldn't tell them Angel. I couldn't stand to see the pity in their eyes. And Buffy would probably do something crazy like beat him to a pulp. I don't want to go there with them. Plus I knew if I came to L.A., you would let me stay here because Cordy would make you." Xander said with a weak smile. "Running into a Zorax demon in the park wasn't part of the plan." He said.

Angel sat back. He ran his eyes over the wounds which had already closed and were beginning to scar, all the way to Xander's tight jeans. After what just happened between them, he didn't know if it was wise to keep Xander around. His blood was too sweet and his body too tempting. For a long time Angel had thought about what it would be like to use his mouth to shut the annoying teenager up. Even when he had been with Buffy in Sunnydale, he would sometimes look at the boy and want.

"Ok, let's get you upstairs and cleaned up then. Take any room you want. I'll go get some ice for your face" Angel said walking toward the kitchen. Xander slowly sat up and tested his wounds. Already they felt better. He really couldn't believe how erotic having Angel clean him was. As he thought about it, perhaps he hadn't been jealous of Angel being with Buffy so much as Angel not being with him. Would explain the angst he felt around Angel and the reason he had always been such a pain in the ass to the vampire. Xander had recently come to accept the fact that he liked boys as well as girls. That's what got his father so mad, it had been a guy Xander was making out with when his father showed up. Xander shook his head. He couldn't think about that now he had to get himself up the hotel's stairs.

Angel stood for a minute in the kitchen, the ice pack lying on the counter. What was he going to do? His lust for the boy was evidently something he was going to have to deal with. But he knew that the minute Cordy found out what had happened to him, Xander would become a permanent resident of the hotel. Angel picked up the ice pack and turned around to walk up the stairs when he heard a crash.

Xander lay on the floor feeling foolish. He had stood up too fast and instead of sitting back down he tried to take a step. This move landed him on the floor, where he now laid looking up at an irritated vampire with a soul. Angel simply shook his head, handed the ice pack to Xander and picked him up like he weighed nothing. Angel turned and started up the steps, ignoring Xander's complaints about not being helpless. Obviously he had lost more blood than Angel first thought, and besides, he was enjoying the feel of Xander's hard body pressed tightly against him. Pausing briefly when he came to the first room, he continued walking until he had reached the room right next to his. His demon laughed at him, snickering that he was smitten with the boy.

Angel laid him down on the bed. "I'll get you something to sleep in. Angel said as he walked out of the room. Xander lay on the bed trying to control his heartbeat. Being that close to Angel had taken his breath away. He replayed the way he simply picked him up and held him close.

Angel returned with a set of black silk pajamas as well as bandages. Xander still had some scrapes that needed to be covered. His hand was especially bad, first using it to hit his father, then using it to hit the demon. Angel covered the scrapes with ointment and bandages, but when he got to Xander's hand, he lifted it to his mouth and slowly licked the wounds. His tongue sliding over the digits slowly and passionately. Angel moaned and Xander sat there transfixed, certain he was having the most erotic day of his life. Suddenly Angel stopped, turning away to get a bandage for his hand. He hadn't planned on touching the boy again, but it was so hard when he was so pure, so innocent. Xander knew what Angel was thinking, so he lifted his hand, lightly turning Angel's face to look at him. "It's ok. I feel it too" Xander said.

Suddenly Angel was leaning down and taking Xander's mouth with his, their tongues dueling for dominance, exploring the sweet chasms of their mouths. When it became apparent that Xander needed to breathe, Angel pulled back, got off the bed and went to the door. "Get some rest. I'm just next door if you need anything" Angel said, closing the door quietly. Xander laid there stunned by the kiss. It had been the best of his life. He slowly got the pajamas on, leaving the shirt off and crawled into bed. He was so tired and exhausted from the fights and coming here to Cordy only to end up with Angel looking over him. Angel…was the last thing on his mind before he passed out.

Angel awoke to the sounds of Cordelia yelling next door in Xander's room. He slowly got up, knowing it wasn't a good idea for the boy to get upset, not with all his wounds still healing. He didn't bother to put on a robe, just walked to Xander's room in nothing but pajama bottoms. Cordy was standing next to Xander, tears falling down her face as she yelled about filing a police report for assault and having Angel go down to his father to teach him a lesson. Xander lay on the bed, looking a little frightened by her rampage. Cordy turned and noticed Angel in the doorway. "Well, what are you going to do about this?" she shrieked. Cordy did not often have to yell or scream in any way to get her point across, and it was this fact that told Angel how truly horrified she was. "I'll do whatever Xander wants me to do. It's his choice." Angel stated. He did not add that the demon which attacked Xander would also pay for the father's actions. At least he would get to beat on something in retaliation, knowing Xander would never let him beat on his father. That was the reason he was here in L.A., to avoid that situation with Buffy.

"Xander is too nice, Angel. We have to do something! Just look at his poor face!" Cordelia said in a much calmer tone of voice that held a hint of tears. Angel could see that the bruises from last night were much more prominent this morning, having had time to change colors and come to the surface. And while he was concerned about the boy's face, he was more concerned with the stab wounds. Quietly he asked Cordy, "Perhaps if Xander had some breakfast that would speed up the healing process. Cordy, take the petty cash and go get Xander something to eat. While you're out, pick him up something for lunch as well. We'll order something in for dinner." "But…" Cordelia started, and then saw the look on Angel's face. She left the room, certain now that Angel would take care of the matter.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Angel asked quietly. Xander simply shook his head no. Angel knew the boy was feeling embarrassed about what had happened the night before. He didn't want to scare him, but he wasn't going to act as though it hadn't happened. "I need to look at the stab wounds to make sure they are healing properly" Angel said matter of factly. For the first time Xander started talking, "Oh, they are fine. I feel just peachy. Kind of like I was run over by a truck then attacked by a demon who wailed on me some more, but I'm sure their ok." "Xander, I'm not leaving this room until I look at those wounds. Now we can do this now while Cordy is otherwise occupied, or we can stare at each other until she comes back and I will still look at them, only you'll have an audience and a much more concerned seer to deal with" Angel smirked. "Fine. But no funny business" Xander conceded.

Angel tried to hide his smile, but he knew the boy saw it. His eyes were now filled with humor. This quickly faded as Angel walked over to the bed, sitting down and pulling the comforter down around Xander's hips. Now Xander looked like a deer in a headlight, and Angel chuckled inside to know he made Xander nervous. Before he was through, Xander would be more than nervous around him. He would want too.

Angel ran his hands over each wound, checking for any heat or sign of infection. He knew his saliva had healed the cuts, but the damage to the inside of Xander's flesh was something else. He would keep a close watch on the wounds to make sure Xander wasn't developing any signs of infection or bleeding. As he moved from each stab wound to the next, Xander would gasp at the feel of Angel's hands on his body. As much as he wanted to forget that the night before had happened, having Angel touch him was having a definite effect on his libido. He was just glad the comforter hid his lap.

Angel was having a hard time being clinical with the boy. He could smell the lust coming off Xander in waves and felt himself responding to it. As if he couldn't help himself, he slowly leaned down and licked one of the wounds, causing Xander to catch his breath. No one had ever made him feel this cherished or this vulnerable. As Angel's tongue moved on to the next scar, Xander couldn't help himself, he buried his fingers in Angel's hair and moaned. Angel grinned against Xander's skin. He knew now that Xander was feeling the same things Angel was thinking about. Angel leaned back to sit up, then leaned forward again to take Xander's mouth in demanding kiss. Xander placed his hands on Angel's chest and responded to the kiss fervently. He was burning up from the inside out, Angel's mouth hot on his, his chest cool under his fingers but firm and inviting. Xander could actually feel his fingers tingle from the contact.

With one last kiss, Angel sat up. He looked deeply into Xander's eyes. "Xander…" he started. Xander cut him off, "I know Angel. It's wiggin me out too. But obviously it is just the after effects of last night, right?" "Right." Angel replied. "Well, you need to rest. I'll check on you in a little while." Angel said as he stood up and walked to the door. "Angel?" Xander said. "Yes" Angel replied. "Thank you" Xander said quietly. "No problem" Angel said then turned and walked back to his room to get ready to face the day. He had a demon to research.