Author: BmblBee
Rating: Adult overall
Paring: William/Xander
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story
Summary: Xander has a crush. William has a secret.
This was a story I started some time ago that
I decided to rework and post.
Will be posted infrequently till
Deadwood is complete. Feed back muchly appreciated.
Chapter 1
The sun was high and hot. Southern California hot. Xander took off his hard hat and squinted up
Yup, looked like about noon. Almost time for lunch. Almost time.
But it wasn't the peanut butter and tomato sandwich in his lunch box he was thinking about.
"Almost time, ain't it Xan?"
"Shut up Larry" Xander answered, but the way he was grinning and the tone of his voice made it evident that no one thought he was angry,
especially Larry.
Xander knew he had to hurry if he was going to
make it in time.
He grabbed his lunch, splashed some cool water on his face, and hustled to the front of the construction site.
One of the many sites presently being worked.
Seemed like the entire town of Sunnydale was
an act of God waiting to happen. Fires, explosions,
gas leaks, lightning strikes, all of which worked together to make construction work extremely regular and lucrative.
This time it had been a mini earthquake and had resulted in the rebuilding of almost an entire city block.
Who even knew there was such a thing as a mini earthquake,
But that's what the government called them, and the government wouldn't lie, would they?
Anyway it provided lots of good paying employment for most of his graduating class. Especially guys with certain skills like him and Larry.
Larry because of muscles from football and chasing queers, and Xander who had built up his stamina and strength from running from guys like Larry.
That was a long time ago, though and now they were friends. More than friends, really since Larry had drunkenly admitted one night he thought he might also be gay.
Xander, in an act of compassion and maybe tinged a bit with revenge, helped him out by fucking him silly and setting his life on it's designated path. So now
Larry is grateful, Xander is forgiving, and they are happily good buds with sometimes benefits.
Xander had no more than sat down when Larry
leaned down from his scaffold and called out
"There she blows!"
Peering down the street, Xander could just make out the
shape of a slim figure walking his way. Lunch forgotten,
Xander sat back, smiled and watched. Closer it came.
He could now see the soft curly blond hair. Closer, and now he could see the tan dockers and short sleeved baby blue shirt.
He could see the worn backpack he always had slung over one shoulder. He watched the light steady pace the figure always walked.
Xander's smile and his nerves grew with each step of the
figure's brown sandals. Today was the day. It was a decision finally made and not to be reneged on.
Each day for the past two weeks Xander had watched this gorgeous man walk past the site.
Each day he would look up briefly at Xander and smile.
Xander could swear that the young man's pace slowed as he
walked by. Xander took this as a good sign. Yep, today was the day.
And right on time the young man reached the area of the
site where Xander sat to eat his lunch.
Just as blue eyes met brown and the hint of smile started, Xander hopped down off his seat and fell in step with the very surprised - now faltering - smile.
"Hi. How's it going?" Xander asked, trying to sound casual.
"Uh, well...."
"Yea, sure is hot today" Xander and his crush kept walking, but decidedly slower.
"So you heading to work or" pointing to the backpack "school maybe?"
"Uh, Well..."
"Noticed you walk by this way everyday and I just thought I'd say "Hey"
Uh, well.."
"Xander"
"Excuse me" The baby blue eyes blinked and clearly showed their confusion.
"Xander, that's me"
"XANDER!" Lindsey bellowed, the site foreman who had just noticed the interaction that had captured everyone's interest.
"Eat your fuckin' lunch or get back to work!"
Xander flinched, but his smile never faded.
"Well, guess I'll see you tomorrow" Still carrying his hard hat in his hand, Xander turned, placed it back on his head and started walking back to his bench to ponder if maybe he had read all the signals wrong. You would think a gay's gaydar would be infallible.
"Will" The soft voice just caught his ears.
"What?" Xander asked as he turned back. So lost in his thoughts he was really not sure he had heard.
Maybe his hearing was taking the same
shit his gay detector had taken.
"My name. It's William. Will"
The voice. The eyes. The accent. They all rolled together to cause the breath in Xander's lungs freeze up.
Finally the biggest smile broke out on his face. Xander removed his hard hat dipping low at the waste in his best attempt at a gentleman's bow.
" Pleased to meet you William. Looking forward to knowing you better"
"XANDER!!" Lindsey screamed. "Get you ass back over here!"
Xander turned and ran back to the site. Even Lindsey couldn't ruin today for him.
Will stood still for a minute then hurried on his way wondering what possessed him to do a stupid thing like that.
Meeting someone could only be trouble. Maybe he would start walking another way and avoid the construction site from now on.
But deep in his heart he knew that would not happen.
William hustled on, his head swimming. Why had he spoken to that man?
Sure he was attractive, but Will knew any kind of relationship, friends or more, was simply out of the question. He had very carefully crafted his life and there was no room in it for any one.
He lived alone, he worked alone, and he would surely one day die alone.
Nothing else was possible. So why then did he walk two blocks out of his way each day just for a peek at the wonderful, darkly handsome construction worker, "Xander". He knew why. Because even a
loner needed good fantasy material for long nights in a cold bed.
Xander was every fantasy he ever had. Big, strong, happy, and confident. The kind of man who could wrap his arms around Will and keep him safe. The kind of man he could love who would love him back even knowing what he had done.
But that's all it was.
Just a fantasy. Still, thinking about the interaction with Xander today caused a thrill that ran down his spine and straight to his balls and told him his bed would be a welcome way to end this long day.
Hurrying on he picked up his pace. He didn't want to be late for work.
Not that anyone would notice or probably care.
Clearing his mind, Will hitched the worn backpack up over his shoulder and walked on. The frayed strap on the backpack looked like it wouldn't last much longer.
'maybe it was time to get a new one' He thought, but immediately checked himself
"NO, I will not touch the money" And knowing he could
not afford it on what he earned he would just have to make due. Remembering what his Grandmum used to say
"Use it up, wear it out, make it due, or due without"
As a child he used to laugh at things like that. Now he just lived by it. Thinking of Grandmum always made him smile. It also made doing without a little easier. So on he walked.
Sunnydale University Library.
The building was big - imposing, and just the type of place someone could get lost in. Especially
when they descended into the lower levels. The archives and records room was an area seldom seen by the general student body. He had once heard a student say it was in the bowels of the building and only held shit.
Everyone with him thought that was hilarious. Will thought it was accurate.
There is nothing of interest there 'including me' thought Will with a sad smile. It also seemed a tad ironic since his own archive needed to be well hidden.
But this afternoon was different. Today Will arrived at work with a lighter step and a smile on his lips. A smile he couldn't talk himself out of no matter how hard he tried.
Xander, too, was smiling. He had a name - Will - and hoped that in the next few days he would work that short conversation up into a promise of a date.
Lindsay stood off in the distance and watched Xander.
He knew what was on the other man's mind, and he was not having it!
"Break Over!" He shouted. "Get your minds off your dicks and back on the job!"
Everyone knew who he was talking about and they knew why.
Lindsey was jealous as hell. He had pursued Xander for months, and for a few short weeks during the last summer, had gotten what he wanted.
But, it had never really been what Xander had wanted.
Lindsey was clingy, whinny, demanding, and frankly, not very good in bed. Of course operating on the theory that any sex was good sex, Xander stuck with him for a time. He was always honest though, and told Lindsey from the beginning that there was nothing there. Just fuck buddies. Nothing more.
Finally even that wasn't enough. and the plug was pulled.
Since that time Xander had moved on. Lindsey had not.
Now he was mad!
Lindsey stood back watching as Xander started back towards his work area.
'My, My' He thought. 'Such a dangerous area to work in
If you weren't careful anything could happen'.
"Xander! Get over there and start hauling those bags of cement to the rear area of the foundation" Lindsey sat directly above the supply lot where the bags lay and watched him load the bags into the wheelbarrow. Two trips down and about two more to go he figured from the number of bags left.
Watching Xander flex and move was mesmerizing. His tan body moved like rippling water. The sweat on his skin sparkled in the sunlight, and Lindsey remembered what that sweat tasted like when it was licked off Xander's stomach. Jesus, how he still wanted Xander!
And that's what did it.
The thought of that mousey, whimpy looking little blond licking any part of Xander's body was more than he could take.
Lindsey jumped up.
Whether it was an accident, as he claimed later,
or if he knocked the heavy bucket off the scaffold intentionally, it happened in an instant. Someone yelled, Xander looked up and tried to jump out of the way. But before he could get to the side, the bucket came down and struck him on the back of the shoulder.
If he hadn't moved, though, it would have landed directly on his head. Knowing that, Xander, and secretly Lindsey, both breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily 911 was on speed dial and in a small town the size of Sunnydale, it didn't take paramedics long to arrive on the scene. They were quick efficient, and very well equipped, and in looking around the inside of the ambulance, Xander was surprised to see they seemed to be prepared to handle any type of freak accident that should occur.
Seems that freak accidents happened a lot in Sunnydale