Title: Three Little Words (3/3)
Author: Dolores Labouchere E-mail: dolores_l@h...
Summary: Oz finally confronts Xander, talks to an old friend, and challenges Angel.
Spoilers: None.
Rating: NC-17 –   m/m slashy sexy stuff
Distribution: UCSL, Ozslash, diminished ninth, Dolores' Domain otherwise just ask.
Disclaimer: They're not mine, they never have been and they probably never will be. I promise to put them back when I'm finished although they might be slightly soiled.
Notes: Next in the 'Driftwood' series, following on from 'Hobson's Choice'. All previous parts are, as ever, on UCSL and Dolores' Domain archives. Sorry this has taken quite so long to do; I started a new job and moved house and had a complete lack of inspiration over the last couple of months and that's meant that this has taken a lot longer to complete than I intended.   Many thanks to the beautiful 'Reesa and the gorgeous Faithtastic for their beta'ing skills, and seeing as they've been the ones who were most wanting this, it's for you m'dears.

This is an AU where Oz left in the middle of the summer between High School and college, so he didn't go to LA, didn't cheat on Willow with Veruca, and didn't find a cure. Oh, and Tara never got it together with Willow (Xander did instead).

"This I not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." – Dorothy Parker

***

The woman at the reception desk gave Oz a particularly dirty look as he walked towards the stairs that led up to Angel's hotel room. He wondered why, and it only then occurred to Oz that his hair was still matted with blood at the back. Cordy hadn't noticed, either because she wasn't observant, or she was getting jaded after so many years of fighting evil stuff that a bit of blood wasn't worth mentioning. However, this woman obviously thought he was some crazy junkie out to rob her guests.

"I'm staying in room 23," he said softly.

The woman glared for a moment, then tutted, before looking down at a magazine.

Oz climbed the stairs until he reached the first floor, he went along the corridor until he reached Angel's door, and lightly knocked on it. After the briefest of pauses it opened to reveal a concerned Angel looming in the doorway.

“Oz, are you OK? I was getting worried. . . I thought Xander might have killed you.” The vampire's tone carried a little humour in amongst the relief. Then Angel noticed the red mark under Oz’s eye. “Was that him?” His eyes darted up towards Oz's head and the blood in his hair, eliciting a startled, "Was *that* him?! Are you OK?"

Oz nodded in reply, before moving past Angel into the hotel room, sitting down wearily on the double bed.

"I'm fine," the werewolf said, as he looked up to see the concerned look on Angel's face. "Xander punched me, I hit my head on a bench, I was knocked out for a bit. No biggie."

"I never much liked Xander. I'm liking him less and less these days," Angel said, his brows knitted, an expression that was a cross between worry and anger.

"He was just worried I was going to tell Willow."

"Are you?" Angel said softly, as he sat next to Oz.

"I told him no. . . but then I met Cordy. And I told her I would."

"You met Cordelia? Oh. Did you mention us?" Angel attempted to keep a neutral tone, but his eyes had widened enough for Oz to know he was worried.

"Don't worry, our secret is safe. I figured that if you want her to know you'd be the one to tell her." Oz said, a smile on his lips as Angel audibly sighed with relief.

"Sorry. I just don't know how she'd react to her employer having a. . .   thing with a guy."

"Angel - she's an actress. I somehow doubt that you'd be the first," Oz said with a trace of amusement in his voice.

He received a look from Angel. "Point taken. But still. Anyway, what are you going to do?"

"To be honest I don't know. What do you think I should do?"

"Not my decision, Oz. I'm not going to make it for you."

"OK."

There was a pause, and both men were content to sit in silence. Then Angel leaned across to Oz to brush the smaller man's cheek with his lips.

Oz didn't respond except to say, "Angel, why?"

The vampire pulled away and regarded Oz with a look of confusion. "Why what?"

"Why did you… what happened last night?"

"When we. . . connected?"

The smaller man nodded.

"You want me to remind you of what happened?"

"No, I don't. I want you to tell me why you did it."

Angel looked even more confused. "Uh, is this a trick question?"

Oz shook his head. "No."

"I liked you. . . I thought you liked me. . ."

The sides of Oz's mouth tugged upwards for a moment, before his face returned to it's normal neutral expression.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what?"

"Cordelia said that you haven't seen anyone since you and Buffy broke up. What made me different?"

Angel sat back on the bed, focusing on a patch of the wall. "I don't find it easy to be. . . intimate with people, Oz. Like Cordy said, since Buffy, there hasn't been anyone romantic in my life. But I get lonely, still. I think coming back to Sunnydale makes it worse, especially for a wedding." He paused, and grimacing slightly, said, "Worse, I have to see Riley again."

"Who's Riley?"

"Buffy's new man. I don't like him."

"Is this because he is with Buffy, or for other personality flaws?"

"I would say an equal mixture of both."

Oz smiled at that statement, and waited for Angel to continue.

"Anyway, when you told me what you told me about you and Xander, well, to be honest I saw you as someone I liked, but not too much, that seemed to be as lonely as I was. I was being selfish too, I suppose. I still have my. . . urges. I haven't had sex with anyone since. . . her. And that wasn't exactly the best night of my life."

"No." Oz tilted his head in thought. "Which is a valid point. Why didn't you. . . turn when we made love?"

"Because we didn't. Make love. We had sex, which was different." Angel paused as Oz stiffened at that statement. "Oz, don't get me wrong, I really do like you. But I don't love you. If I did, Angelus would be sitting here, not me."

"Another valid point," the smaller man said, although his voice was quieter still.

Angel wrapped an arm around Oz, and pulled him closer to his imposing frame.  
 "We are going to have to be careful. You should mention I've been bad during sex. That helps."

Resting his head on Angel's shoulder Oz promised, "I will."

Using his hand to play with the hair at Oz's neck, Angel asked, "What about you? Why did you choose me?"

Oz smiled. That question was. . . interesting. "I think I fall in love too easily, Angel. The first time I saw Willow, I didn't know a thing about her, and yet. . . I knew she was someone special. Someone *I* wanted to be with. I usually get the emotions before I get the physical attraction, y'know? Devon, I had a huge crush on him from ninth grade. Not that I ever had a chance in the completely heterosexual Devslut's eyes.

"Xander. Xander was different. I never really thought of him as anything more than Xander, until the road trip. Seeing him as a sexual person was. .   . different, and I just got. . . hooked on him, I suppose."

"And me?" Angel breathed the question into Oz's ear, squeezing the smaller man gently.

"You're. . . different. Like, back in High School, yeah, I fantasised about Angel, and kissing and stuff. Then when you. . . when *we* did the kissing and. . . stuff, it was fantasy fulfilment, I guess. I never was expecting anything more. But then we had morning sex."

"Morning sex?" Angel chuckled and wet-hot breath tickled Oz's ear, making Oz arch into Angel automatically.

"Which means something more than just night sex. It means you want to continue things. It wasn't just a one-night thing."

The lips were on his temple now, scraping a warm, damp trail.

"And so this isn't just a one-night thing. There's more than just a fantasy. At least I hope so."

Pulling back just a little, Angel whispered, "I'm not promising anything, Oz. I can't."

"You don't need to."

Oz turned his head so he could receive the kiss proper, and his hot lips met the cooler mouth of Angel and the stubble burned both. Angel's hand cupped the base of Oz's skull, the fingers' undulating in the soft, short hairs there, some flakes of dried blood drifting across the bedspread.

Oz's smaller hands snaked up inside Angel's silk shirt to rub across a muscular back and caress a fleshy nipple, eliciting a soft moan which echoed into his own mouth.   The shirt was pushed further up Angel's torso and the pink nipples hardened to the cooler air and the gentle touch of Oz. Angel reached up and pulled the shirt off, and it fluttered to the floor.

Having broken the kiss to remove the shirt, Angel dove back in to lay claim to Oz's mouth, then moved downwards to suckle on Oz's larynx, the werewolf raising his head in silent appreciation, eyes closed and mouth open. His brain vaguely registered that his hands weren't doing anything, so he reached around Angel's head to stroke the vampire's hair and rub his back. Angel moved back up Oz's jaw to reconnect with the other man's mouth, and a hand moved in response to clutch the growing bulge in his leather pants.

Leather. Parts of Oz's body decided that it liked that concept a great deal, and Oz swung himself round on top of Angel so that more of him might be rubbing against it. Angel fell back onto the bed and the two men writhed in their passion, kissing and licking and touching. Oz began to move down Angel's trunk, letting his lips rub on Angel's breastbone, and just under his nipples, and lightly licking the navel and letting his tongue run down the fine trail of wisps that lead from it to the bulge. These were the places he seemed to remember Angel liked the most, and the groans from up, beyond him seemed to confirm this.

Nimble fingers undid the buttons of the pants that were on eye level with Oz now, and, oh, commando. The leather peeled from Angel's skin until past the knee, and then it was slack and fell off to the floor. Oz used fingers to run along the ridge of Angel's pelvis as his lips worked back up the taut thighs to the hooded length, trailing just the tip of his tongue to the already moistened top, to the accompaniment of soft gasps from Angel.

Then he felt a hand on his head, but it was pulling him back up to Angel's mouth, so he followed it, and his lips met Angel's again.

And the vampire smiled into the clinch, and said, "Fuck. I only ever carry the one condom. And we used it."

"No fuck, actually. But we can make do. But bad, bad Angel."

The vampire smiled again, and began to unbutton Oz's shirt. He managed the top three before Oz sat back and pulled it off, then lay back down onto the larger man, hissing in pleasure when their skin made contact. Angel reached around to paint the fold of Oz's ear with his tongue, and Oz shuddered in response, nipping lightly at Angel's collarbone with his teeth, very careful not to break the skin. His own cock was tight in his pants, and he moved a hand to try to push them down. Angel got the message, his hands helping to unfasten and discard the denims, flipping the smaller man onto his back in the process. Oz's Bugs Bunny boxers were wet where he had oozed precum, and the werewolf moaned when Angel licked there, salt and warm to the tastebuds.

Then the boxers were pulled, a little awkwardly, from his hips and then he was encased in the coolness of Angel's mouth, and then he wasn't. Then he was, and, wow, and teeth, and then he wasn't. A hand was scratching his stomach and then the mouth was on his, and slightly lubricated with saliva, they rubbed their hot and cold bodies together. There were hands and legs and cocks and nipples and navels and no matter how they tried neither could seem to get enough friction until the hands found the sweaty lengths and there was more spittle needed and then there was *much* more rubbing needed.

And then, there was just enough and Oz felt the rush of static that meant for a moment his senses were all just *there* and he had to keep rubbing and judging by Angel's noise and the extra moisture Angel was there too.

They breathed heavily for a while, drawing doodles on each other's skin with wet fingers.

"I'll have to shower again now," noted Angel.

"Yeah, me too," his companion replied.

So they did.

***

"I hope we're not too late," Angel said, as they approached the Bronze some time later, freshly showered.

"I doubt it." Oz nodded to the doorman as they went in. As ever, a band played on the stage. It wasn't the Dingoes, and Oz was a little relieved. Although he wasn't even sure they still played. He looked about the club until he saw Giles, carrying some drinks towards a far table, around which sat some familiar faces. He nudged Angel and the two moved towards the Watcher.

Giles had just reached the table as they reached him, and the conversation immediately stopped.

"Oz!" Giles gingerly placed the drinks on the table, then, after wiping his hands on his sweater, he extended his left to the werewolf. Oz took it politely.

"Hey."

"I must say, I wasn't expecting to see you. Oh, Angel, you're here too. Can I get you a drink?"

"Uh, that's OK." Angel said.

"Oz?"

"A beer, please."

"Of course," and the ex-librarian hurried to the bar.

Oz turned his attention to the other sat around the table. There was Xander, who nodded and smiled, an older man Oz assumed was Xander's father, Wesley, who seemed quite drunk, Jonathan, who looked meekly at Oz, and two others Oz didn't recognise. One was blond and muscular, the other dark and muscular.

They all sat and stared at Oz for a moment, then the blond one said, "I guess you're, uh, Oz?"

Oz nodded.

"I'm Riley. I date Buffy. You know her?"

Oz nodded again.   "Yeah. Or I kinda did. Nice to meet you." He looked at Angel, who was in classic brooding face, trying not to glare at Riley.

Giles then returned from the bar, proffering a bottle of beer. Oz took it,   murmuring thanks. The Watcher noticed the tension and set about reducing it. "Oh, Oz, you won't have met Mr. Harris, Xander's father. Mr, Harris, Oz. Oz, Mr. Harris. And this is Riley, Buffy's boyfriend, and Graham, Riley's friend. And ours, of course."

There was a stiff nod from Mr. Harris, and a small wave from Graham.

The conversation slowly started up again. Oz could hear Graham ask Riley who he, Oz, was. And Mr. Harris ask Xander. Riley said he thought he used to be Willow's boyfriend, to a 'and he's *here*?' from Graham. Xander just said he was an old friend.   Meanwhile Jonathan sat looking scared as Wesley, swaying, told him about the dangers of witchcraft, for some reason.

"Are you glad we came?" Angel asked in his ear.

Oz cocked an eyebrow, and Angel added, "I'm going to rescue that kid. Talk to Giles."

He turned to face Giles, who was smiling in best awkward librarian fashion.

"So. . . how are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Oh, good."

"Good."

There was a pause.

"So. . . where have you been all this time? We did quite wonder."

***

Later. . .

"I'm glad you came, Oz," Xander said, slightly slurring, "Really I am."

Oz nodded, trying not to screw his face up as the alcohol that seeped from every pore of Xander's body attacked his sensitive nose.

"Cuz. . . cuz. . . it wouldn't have been right without you."

"Thanks."

"Hey man, you're the best." Xander hugged Oz tightly, then got unsteadily to his feet. "Thanks. I really owe you one." He grinned, pupils wide, "Love ya. . ."

Then he staggered to the bathroom to be sick.

Oz felt a little nauseous too.

***

Later still. . .

"Man, you have seen your fair share of hostiles." Riley remarked, as Oz   confirmed he had been at *that* Graduation ceremony.   They had been talking for a while now. Riley was very eager. Sort of like a labrador, Oz thought. They'd already discussed Oz's lycanthropy, and Riley's mild demon streak, to initial mild discomfort on Riley's part about Oz's monthly cycle, but he made quite an effort to be understanding about it. He was nice enough, Oz supposed.

He wasn’t quite blind to Angel's glare, however. The vampire really didn't like the labrador, it seemed. Less and less, now that he and Oz were getting on. Oz didn't want to think Angel might be jealous, but. . .

"So, uh, you dated Willow, then?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. You're not bothered she's marrying Xander?"

"Well. . . if she's happy."

"That's cool. I mean, if I thought that anyone else," despite himself, Riley shot a glance at Angel, "was going to marry Buffy I'd be. . . well, I wouldn't be cool."

"I guess I'm different."

"I guess so. Anyway, excuse me, I need to use the bathroom."

Oz nodded, and the blond man got up and walked away. The werewolf looked across to where Angel was being talked at by Wesley, and the vampire smiled back, happier now Riley wasn't talking to Oz. Oz grinned. To himself. It wouldn't do to let Angel see him happy that someone might be jealous about him.

He looked about and saw Giles, sitting on his own, surveying the scene of Xander dancing wildly with a bemused Graham. Oz decided to go and speak to him. Their initial conversation had been somewhat stilted, and eventually abandoned. Oz wanted to try again.

"Giles, I wanted to ask you. . ."

"Hmmm?"

"Do you remember the last time we met?"

The Englishman nodded.

"I don't remember exactly, but I think I may have said. . . stuff that night about Xander."

"You did," Giles confirmed, without any inflection.

"What did I say?"

Giles pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Well, enough that I could deduce something had gone on over that summer. But then Buffy came and told me what she knew, and, so, well, it confirmed my own thoughts."

Oz slowly nodded, staring at Xander, who was waving his arms about rather dangerously. "You don't think my coming back is a bad thing?"

"In itself, no. It depends what you're going to do when you're here."

"I think I know."

"Is it a bad thing?"

Xander falls over, dragging Graham down with him.

"Depends on your viewpoint."

***

to be continued…