Title: The Ring

Author: meagan

nutmeg@serv.net

Summary: Yet another Xander's-summer-job story.

Distribution: Please ask. It's already on my page -- http://www.geocities.com/meaganola

Spoiler: "Becoming" and "The Freshman"

Rating: PG-13, I think.

Disclaimer: Of *course* they belong to someone else. If they were mine, things would be different. Specifically, they belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, WB, and anyone else I forgot.

Note: I've been thinking about writing a sequel. Should I bother? Also, I don't know about the strip clubs in other areas, but most of them in my area have cash machines and signs proudly proclaiming this fact outside the building. And the very last line is something a friend said while rhapsodizing about used book stores (I love my friends. They have neat priorities). I wanted to use it in something else, but I couldn't get the something else to work out. So it ended up here.

The Ring
by meagan

It had been a wonderful trip. Three days of just doing nothing with Olivia, just as they had done in his prior life -- before he had been entrusted with his so-called sacred duty. But now she had decided how she wanted to spend the evening, and Giles was regretting suggesting this particular area.

"But it's harmless fun, Rupert. Just cute young men dancing and taking off their clothes. I seem to recall that this was never an objectionable pasttime to you before -- either as an observer or a participant."

And the teasing, flirtatious tone had won him over. Again. "All right. But I get to put the money in the g-strings this time."

That request brought out the giggles once more. "Of course." Now she frowned. "But remember what happened last time your fingers 'slipped.' I don't want to be thrown out of a strip club *again*."

~~~

The next morning, he awoke as he did every morning on their vacation, blinking and trying to figure out why he felt the strange calm that had been missing for years. And just like every other morning, he felt a mysterious smile form in that split second between discovering the calm and becoming consciously aware of the fact that he was no longer Council-bound -- the reason for the calm and the smile.

But this morning was different. Something was missing. Olivia? No, she was still there. His clothing? He was actually still wearing the same thing he had the previous evening. He even had his shoes on. Something... He lifted his hands to his head, running his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out what was wrong when he realized the problem.

His ring.

Suddenly, vague memories from the previous evening began trickling back. The drinks before dinner while waiting for the table, the bottle of wine with dinner, more drinks after dinner...

Nervously twisting his ring around his finger just before tucking a twenty-dollar bill firmly in the g-string of a particularly winsome brown-eyed man.

Groaning, he poked Olivia's hip. "Liv? Love? Where were we last night?" She did not awaken. "Olivia?" Now she rolled over onto her back. And snored loudly. He glanced around the room, eyes falling on the dresser. And the crumpled papers strewn about carelessly. He held his breath while he searched for a clue where his ring was. When he located the cash machine receipt with the address clearly printed across the top, he kissed the slip of paper in relief. Conveniently, his keys and wallet were on the dresser next to the receipt. Since he was already dressed, he simply left a note for Olivia before he walked out the door, cringing at the bright sunlight.

It took some time, but he finally located the building. A low structure with an empty parking lot. Before he could open the door, someone else did it for him.

"Sorry, we're closed." The man turned away from the door to call back over his shoulder. "See you at seven, Drew." He turned back to face Giles.

The former Watcher's gaze was transfixed by the metal circle dangling from this man's chest, bouncing across the surface of a tight t-shirt that emphasized a beautifully-muscled chest. Obviously the chest of one of the dancers. A familiar chest. And another memory clicked into place. This was the dancer whose g-string ate the ring -- the dancer with the gorgeous chocolate eyes. Without thinking, he reached up and grabbed the ring, pulling the dancer down off the doorstep by the chain of the necklace. "My ring."

"Yeah." Hands reached up to pull the necklace over the young man's head. One hand carefully pooled the chain in a small puddle in the other hand. "I was going to wait until I got back." He carefully placed the jewelry in Giles' palm. "There you go, Giles. See you next month." He attempted to step around Giles.

"Wait." He stared at the ring, still warm from being buried under the sweater now held casually in one hand. "Xander?"

The teen grinned sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better, I stared at that ring for an hour before I figured out where I had seen it before."

"Well..."

"And then once I realized it was yours, I put it on so I wouldn't lose it." Now he flushed. "And there was another reason, but I don't think you want to hear about that one."

Giles stared at the ring for another long moment. "Actually, I do."

"Giles --"

"Xander."

The teen blinked. Turning his attention to his shoes, he shrugged. "I've missed you."

Giles swallowed and hoped he could repress his nervous stammer. "It's only natural to miss your friends when you're separated from them for an extended period of time. You're just homesick."

"No, Giles." He twisted the sweater nervously in his hands. "I missed *you*." His eyes turned to the ring. "And for a few hours, you were with me." Xander ducked his head and laughed self-consciously. "So. You have your ring back. I guess you'll be going now."

"Oh. Yes." Giles slipped the ring off the chain, placing the ring on his finger and handing the chain back to Xander. "Thank you." But neither man moved.

"Can I ask you a question?" The words were rushed, as if Xander wanted them out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about them. Giles nodded. "Why were you here last night? I mean, were you not aware that this is a place where women come to see guys?"

"Well, for one thing, I wasn't here by myself. I was here with an old friend. A female friend."

"Okay." Xander nodded, accepting the explanation.

"And for another, I've never found watching attractive men removing their clothes to be an unenjoyable experience."

"Oh." The teen shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "So what did you think? I mean, it was my first night, so I'm not sure... Did you... Did I..."

Giles smiled softly. "You did fine."

"Thanks. I think." Xander fell silent again for a long moment. Finally, he spoke again. "So could you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Don't tell anyone about this? I mean, just what I want everyone to know. Xander Harris, town loser, taking off his clothes for money. Selling his body. Sort of."

Giles cleared his throat. "So you must make fairly good money."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well..." Now he removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes and trying to postpone answering the question for as long as possible. Pain shot through his head, reminding him of his activities the previous evening.

"Giles? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He put his glasses back on. "I just have a headache. A hangover."

"Ah." Xander smiled faintly. "If you don't mind my idea of interior decorating, I have painkillers."

"I don't want you to go to any trouble."

"No trouble." Finally, Giles nodded. "Right this way. I'm just a few blocks away."

~~~

It was a small apartment -- barely more than a room -- but Xander moved around in it like it was his castle. "This is mine." When he realized that his voice had a hint of pride in it, he flushed slightly. "It sounds weird, but I can sit here and look around at everything and know that it's
*mine*. Well, not the furniture, because this place was furnished, but it's still not stuff that someone has loaned me or given to me out of pity, so it still makes me happy to look at it. I earned it."

Giles smiled and nodded. "I know what you mean."

"Do you really?"

If anyone else had asked that question, Giles would have bristled at it. How dare anyone question the sentiment? But then he recognized the tone of voice Xander was using. It was the same as when he had asked Giles about the previous night's performance. Xander needed reassurance. "Now I get to look at everything around me and know that it's there because of *me*, not because the Council gave it to me or forced it upon me."

Xander sighed and nodded. "So you do know." He moved to the kitchen area and opened a cupboard. "These should kill any headache you have. Someone's cousin brought them down from Canada." Giles gazed at the bottle, examining the ingredients for a long moment before finally opening it. He wondered just how much codeine and caffeine would be needed to subdue the headache. Shrugging, he shook out five tablets. "Just in case, you might as well take some of these decongestants, too. And here's some water." Giles accepted the items. Xander moved to the bathroom, running water for a moment before returning with a cool, damp washcloth. "Just put this over your forehead and eyes. You should be on your road to recovery in just a little while. And, here, let's get those shoes off so you can stretch out on the bed until those painkillers kick in, okay?"

Giles obeyed, wondering just how many times the youth had done something similar -- taking care of someone much older than himself, playing the father figure even though he was barely old enough to vote -- over the years.

~~~

A surprisingly short period of time later, Giles no longer felt like a mariachi band was using his head for practice space. He carefully opened his eyes. The lancing pain was gone from them as well. "Thank you, Xander."

When the teen didn't respond, Giles sat up on the bed, gazing around the room. And saw Xander asleep on the couch, turned on his side, mouth slightly open.

Smiling, Giles moved to the couch, lifting Xander's head to his lap. He ran his fingers through the soft brown hair, gently massaging Xander's scalp. Xander shifted, turning his face up to Giles'. Giles froze.

"Don't stop, Giles." Xander's eyes drifted open. "That feels really good." Giles nodded and returned his fingers to Xander's head. "You didn't shave today."

"What?"

Xander lifted his hand to Giles' jawline. "Stubble." He sat upright, keeping his hand on Giles' face. "Not that it's a bad thing." He blinked rapidly and swallowed a few times. "Giles, can I --"

And before he could register his own actions, Giles leaned in and gently touched his lips to Xander's. To his complete surprise, Xander's tongue carefully prodded its way into his mouth. "Xander..."

The whispered name broke the spell. "Giles, I'm sorry. You probably didn't expect to be mauled by a horny kid when you decided it would be a good idea to come over for aspirin."

"No, I did not." Giles sighed and moved his hand to the back of Xander's head, leaning his forehead against Xander's. "But that doesn't mean that I'm objecting."

~~~

A while later, Giles stretched contentedly, dreading the moment he would have to put last night's clothes back on and leave. "Is this just between the two of us?"

Xander sighed. "Whatever you want."

"No." Giles frowned at the resignation in Xander's voice. "That's not what I meant. The real question is, do you want to tell people about this? Or do you want to keep it secret? It's your choice. I don't really care, but I would like to know so I can react appropriately. I will respect whatever decision you make."

"Oh." Xander just ran his fingers over Giles' chest for a long moment. "How about... just between us for now?"

Giles smiled faintly over Xander's head. "'For now?' What do you mean? That what we just did should be kept secret until you decide it's a good time to share with the group?"

"No." Now Xander pulled away from Giles' body and moved up so his lips were hovering over Giles'. "That we should keep what we *are* doing a secret. Just for a while." Giles' silence made him rethink his words. "Uh, I think... Never mind what I just said?"

Giles leaned up and gently sucked a trail along Xander's jaw. "No."

"No what?"

"No to never minding what you just said. The part about 'what we *are* doing.'" He rested his head against the pile of pillows. "Unless you want me to."

"If you want to."

Sighing, Giled moved so that he was holding Xander in his arms. "Don't do that. Don't just agree to go along with whatever I say." He waited for Xander's nod. "So. What do *you* want?"

Eyes closed, he breathed one word. "Time." Now his eyes snapped open. "To figure out what's going on."

"All right."

"And not time away from you. That is, once I get back to Sunnydale after this summer." Giles's eyes met his. "Just time after I get back to figure out how to face everybody and tell them the truth."

Giles nodded, small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. This was wholly unexpected. A lovely surprise. But he should probably make sure they were thinking the same thing. "So is this the end?"

"No way." Gently, Xander traced Giles' lips with his index finger. "Not if I have anything to do with it." He turned his head to the side, glancing at the alarm clock on his bedside table. Suddenly, he pushed away from Giles. "Except right now, I have to go to work. It would be
really nice to be able to actually pay for my car repairs."

At first, the former Watcher felt hurt, simply pushed aside like a blanket. Then Xander's words sank in. So he was only doing this stripping thing for the money. "I have money."

Xander froze in his search for matching socks. Then he shook his head. "No, that wasn't a hint."

"Please." Giles frowned, searching for the right words. "I owe you."

"Don't say that." Xander's voice was so sad and small that Giles almost convinced himself that he had imagined it. Then Xander sat on the edge of the bed, slumped and on the verge of sliding off the bed. "That's not why I did this. It's why I have the job I do, but this was a coincidence.
And if I take your money now and then go back to work, taking off my clothes for the rest of the night --"

Giles ran his hand up Xander's spine, carefully stroking each bump and valley. "No, Xander. I'm not offering this to you as the person who just spent the past few hours here in this room, unless we're talking about everything that happened before you told me to take off my shoes. I'm offering this as the person who has boxes of books at waiting to be shelved." He worked his way slowly to Xander's scalp. "As the person who has put up with you for two and a half years." Giles sat up, moving to Xander's side. "As the person you saved from Angelus." Now he gently pressed his lips to Xander's shoulder.

"And?"

"And as the person who will wait until you feel comfortable enough to tell your friends that you're sleeping with the former high school librarian." He smiled. "Not to mention the person who has to get comfortable with the idea of telling his own friends that he's sleeping with one of them."

They both realized that Xander's fingers were running up and down Giles' thigh at the same time. Xander smiled. "I guess this will just be one of those really embarrassing stories that we'll keep to ourselves for a while. You, losing your ring in my g-string. Me, wishing I had been
aware that it was *your* hand there when it happened." Now he sighed once more. "You know I'm not ashamed, right? I'm just... not ready to deal with the consequences yet. Not 'not ready.' More like not sure how to do it. Yet. I want to think about things and make sure I don't screw them up. Again." Giles nodded. "Okay." He moved his hand to Giles' forearm, deliberately stroking his way down the arm and hand until their fingers were twisted together. "Giles?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Giles frowned. "After this afternoon, you think that I would say no?"

"Well..." Xander shrugged. "It's just kind of embarrassing to say."

"Xander, you have *semen* in your *hair*. And I'm not entirely sure whose it is. I think that whatever you have to say should be a bit less embarrassing that that."

"In my hair?" Giles smiled. Xander frowned. "Shower time before work, maybe?" Giles nodded. Xander stood and moved to the bathroom door. "Giles, I didn't tell the secret."

The older man sighed. Xander was just standing at the door, still naked, nervously bouncing from one foot to the other and carefully touching his hair on a quest to find the body fluid discussed seconds earlier. "So tell."

Xander continued to shift from foot to foot, chewing on his lower lip while apparently debating whether to share the secret. Finally, he nodded and blurted out the words before he lost his nerve before ducking into the shower. "I think old books are just damn sexy."

~~~ the end ~~~