First White Hair - darkhavens

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First White Hair

Xander had fallen asleep halfway through the movie with his head in Spike's lap, and Spike had spent the last hour watching the action while one hand absently petted the mink soft hair beneath it.

When the credits rolled, Spike glanced down, and froze. There, just next to the tip of his ring finger, was a tiny thread of silver. He leaned in closer, trying to keep his fingers motionless so he didn't lose sight of what he'd hoped to never see.

With a muffled moan, Xander squirmed to get more comfortable, and the tiny silver hair was lost in the midst of its darker, younger-looking brothers. Spike spent several minutes combing gently through the waves in an attempt to find the single gray. He found three before he stopped.

He hated them with a passion, Spike thought, almost numb with fear. They were the first real signs he'd seen that Xander wasn't twenty-one any more. He knew that, realistically, it was a miracle Xander had survived this long at all, living on the Hellmouth, never mind him going gray. But now that sign of aging had arrived and Xan's mortality was staring Spike in the face.

They'd talked around the subject many times, but Xan was young; they'd had years left to decide on a solution. But time moves fast when you're not looking, and suddenly they were up against the wall.

He'd been able to ignore the tiny wrinkles at the corners of Xan's eyes. He spent his days on construction sites after all, and none of those fancy designer shades for his boy. So he squinted into the sun when he had to, and things like that were bound to leave their mark, right?

And if he sometimes, often, fell asleep before the movie ended, well, he'd been working extra hard to get the contract finished so they could take a holiday together.

These arguments had kept Spike sane but now the truth had kicked him in the teeth. His love was getting older while he'd stood by and refused to see it happening. No more. It was time they settled this.

Spike gave Xander a gentle shake.

"We need to talk, Pet. I think it's time..."