A Friendly Challenge Between Two Slayers

by Electra

Rating: NC-17
Notes: Season 4 AU. Faith never went bad in Season 3. After getting her high school equivalency, she enrolled in UCSunnydale with the rest of the gang. Unexpectedly, she was doing really well. Willow moved in with Tara and Buffy and Faith became roommates. This takes place one afternoon on campus as Buffy and Faith met for lunch between classes, and it goes on from there.
Summary: Faith claims to have the ability to make people do ‘things’ that they wouldn’t normally do. When Buffy doubts her said abilities, they decide to settle things up with a friendly challenge.

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Buffy laughed at the girl in front of her.

“You really think highly of yourself, don’t you?” She asked.

Faith tried to look hurt at the comment, but her grin kept peeking through.

“What? All I said is that I have this wicked-cool ability to make people do . . . things . . . they wouldn’t normally do. Call it a . . . hidden talent”

Buffy laughed again.

“Explain. You mean, if I didn’t want to eat this plum,” she held up the plum she was about to eat for lunch, “but you wanted me to, you could make me do it?”

Faith shrugged. “Nah, that’s not really what I mean. But . . . yunno what? Yeah, I bet I could get ya to eat that plum if I really wanted ya to.” She added, sounding really sure of herself.

Buffy just raised her eyebrows.

“Oh really?” She decided to put Faith up to a little challenge. ‘There’s no way I can lose this game.’ “Okay, Faithy. Do you dare to prove it?” She asked rather condescendingly.

Faith just shrugged, trying to look uninterested and nonchalant about it. ‘Oh, there’s no way I’m gonna lose this game.’ “Alright, B. I’m in. I’ll give ya a little demonstration. BUT . . . once I win, you have to let me do another challenge. One that I choose. Deal?”

Buffy thought about it. ‘I have the strongest willpower of anyone I know. Of course I can handle Faith.’ She smirked as she nodded at Faith.

“You’ve got yourself a deal. Now, back to this totally unappetizing plum that lies before me. I don’t think I want it anymore.” She tried to look as indifferent as possible.

Faith looked at the plum as if it puzzled her. “Right, I could see why you wouldn’t want it. Probably rotten. Then again . . .” she picked it up in her hands and began to inspect it, “it could be perfectly ripe. Perfectly delicious.”

She rolled the plum around in her hand, studying it from every angle. In this case, she had resorted to using basic psychology: she would make the discarded object seem as appealing as possible. She had to rationalize it in her head, making sure that her strategy would work.

‘It’s like two five-year old children. Example: If child A has two toys, a fire truck and a football, he will choose one toy as his favorite and will discard the second. If child B comes along and picks up the discarded item, it suddenly becomes a prized possession again in the eyes of child A. The discarded object is suddenly desired by someone other, so it must have some sort of special value to it, and therefore, it must be reclaimed as the property of child A.’

Faith smiled to herself, happy with the logic and reasoning that she had just come up with. She chose to continue in the direction that she started.

“Yep . . . perfectly delicious. Yunno, judging from the texture and softness of this plum, I’d be willin’ to guess that it’s sweet . . . and juicy . . . and even kinda sugary.”

She brought her eyes up to Buffy, who was now looking at the plum as if she wanted it back.

The blonde noticed that Faith had caught her looking, so she tried to appear uninterested. She pulled a rice-cake out of her bag and began to nibble on it.

Faith inwardly smiled, knowing that things were going just as planned.

“Hey B, ya sure you don’t want this instead? I mean . . . look at it. It’s pure plum perfection!” She looked at Buffy who kept her eyes on the rice cake, but listened to every word that she was saying.

Faith knew that she already won, so she decided to go for the big last move.

“Alright B. You don’t want this plum? Fine. I didn’t bring any lunch with me, and I don’t have money to buy any either.” She noticed Buffy watching her out of the corner of her eye.

Without another word, Faith raised the plum up to her dark, full lips. She opened up her mouth, about to take a huge bite, when Buffy grabbed it out of her hand and sunk her own teeth into it.

Faith smirked as she looked at the petite blonde in front of her, chewing down a mouthful of plum. She knew she was going to win from the beginning, and now she had.

“What?!?” Buffy asked around a mouthful of plum, trying her best to sound incredulous. “I wasn’t about to let you eat my plum, Faith. You eat everything else in my fridge, I’m not about to let you get this too.”

“Whatever ya say, B. I still won. Ya said you didn’t want it. I said a few words, worked my magic, and now here you are, enjoying plum-y goodness. That was wicked easy. I’m gonna love the next challenge.”

“No, Faith. There will be no ‘next challenge’. You cheated, thereby giving up your right to claim another challenge.” She said, clearly pushing her luck.

“WHAT?!?” Faith yelled. “I didn’t cheat, B. I told you I could get you to eat that plum, and I did. We didn’t establish any guidelines, just the basic goal. Don’t be a sore loser.”

Buffy huffed for a moment before putting on her patented pout.

“What are you gonna make me do?” She asked Faith with a slight whine in her voice.

“I don’t know yet. We’ll talk about it tonight on patrol. Then, we can establish your guidelines so that we don’t have to go over the whole ‘sore-loser’ thing again. ‘Kay?”

“Fine.” Buffy replied in her best little girl voice.

Faith laughed.

“You’re adorable when you pout, B.” Buffy looked up at her, kind of taken aback by what she just said. “Anyways, gotta motorvate. Got English Lit & Poetry in 10 minutes. I’ll check ya later.”

With that, she got up and made her way to the building just across the quad.

“Oh god, what did I get myself into this time.” Buffy said aloud as she gathered up her bag and headed to her next class.

Chapter Two: A Little White Lie

Buffy might as well had not have gone to her class after attention. Her body was there, but her mind was elsewhere.

‘I can’t believe Faith actually “won” this afternoon. One minute I’m in total control, and the next, I’m almost choking on the very same plum that I convinced myself I didn’t want. How did she do it? She had to have been cheating.’

Similar thoughts ran through Buffy’s mind during the length of her Psych-101 Class. She didn’t mind so much that she wasn’t paying attention . . . Faith took the same course the previous semester and would be able to share her old notes.

The thought of Faith in college still amused Buffy more than a little. The same girl who had made such a big stink when they made her get her high-school equivalency was now kicking ass in college.

Much to the amazement of . . . well, pretty much everyone she knew, she received 4 – B’s and 1 – A her first semester. Buffy’s 3 – C’s and 2 – B’s kind of paled in comparison, but the older Slayer was happy at least to be passing.

The first semester was tough on all of the Scoobies. Willow had to deal with the realization that she was gay, and she also had to deal with coming out of the closet to her nearest and dearest. In the end, everything turned out fine. Her friends supported her and she got a great girlfriend out of the deal. In fact, Tara had invited Willow to share her double room, and the two witches had been living happily ever after since.

Xander, on the other hand, had some problem finding his direction in life. Living in his parents’ basement, he picked up several part-time jobs to save money. His weekdays were spent on a construction site and his weekends and occasional evenings were spent on campus working in a local bar. He didn’t mind the ‘non-student bartender’ job, seeing as that he got to spend time with all of his favorite girls while on campus.

Faith had been living in an on-campus apartment. She had 8 roommates, zero with whom she got along with. They couldn’t handle the fact that even though she liked to party hard, she was also trying to do well in school.

As soon as Willow moved in with Tara, Faith began crashing with Buffy. It made sense, anyway: between slaying and going out to either The Bronze or the Campus Bar to see Xander, they were together most nights anyways. After a little bit of haggling with the Residence Life Office, Buffy and Faith made the move official and they became roommates for good.

Buffy had noticed how close she and Faith were becoming, or had become. They spent almost all of their spare time together. Whether it be slaying, going out, getting something to eat before or after class, or even the weekend visit to Joyce’s to do laundry.

She also couldn’t help but notice how comfortable she had become around her sister Slayer. She had no problem walking around their room in her bra and boyshorts, she didn’t mind when Faith would dance oh-so-close to her when they went out, and she didn’t even mind when Faith would ‘growl’ at guys who got too close to the two of them.

In fact, she was getting so close to Faith that it almost scared her. She had put off her quest to find ‘the perfect boyfriend’ seeing as that she was spending all of her free time with Faith anyways.

Plus, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t block out the voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her, ‘Hey . . . college is supposed to be about experimentation, and being young and dumb! Let go of your inhibitions! You only live once, and Slayers are supposed to die young, so get with the living!’

Buffy also couldn’t ignore the fact that even though Faith had toned down her usual barrage of flirting and sexual innuendos, there was still a hint of the ‘old Faith’ left. On more than one occasion, the younger girl had hinted that she’d like to expand their relationship a bit.

Actually, her exact words were, “We should just do it and get it over with already. We both know that’s where it’s headed anyways, B. Either after a drunken frat-party or a night of some real good slayin’ . . . it’s bound to happen sooner or later. Let’s just get it outta the way is all I’m sayin.”

At the time, Buffy had attributed Faith’s little confession to a case of the post-slayage hornies. Her only response to the younger girl had been to giggle a bit and say, “Faith, the only way you’re getting into my pants is if you steal them out of my closet.”

Faith had just laughed at her response. “Whatever you say, twinkie. When that river in Egypt dries up, you make sure ya give me a call.”

As Buffy thought about it while sitting in her Psych class, she pouted to herself a little. ‘I am not in denial. I am so totally far from denial . . . heck, I’m Mrs. Miles-from-Denial. Heh.’

Buffy was pulled from her thoughts when she noticed that everyone was getting up from their seats and leaving the lecture hall.

‘Oops . . . guess I kinda lost track of time. But . . . yay! I’m finally done with classes. Time to get back to Faith and . . . . wait. I am SO not going back to the dorm. She’ll be there, all smug from this afternoon’s little freak show and scheming for the next challenge. I’ll just go visit Willow and Tara for awhile.’

Buffy stood up and grabbed her bag before slinging it over her shoulder and heading for the door. Before she could exit, she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She turned around quickly to see who it was.

“Oh, hey Riley. What’s up? Did I forget to hand in an assignment or something?” She asked the tall guy in front of her.

Riley had caught her eye the previous semester, B.F. (That’s before-Faith . . . Buffy’s little term for her time in college before Faith moved in with her). At first, she thought he was the exact kind of person she was looking for. Tall, semi-good-looking, smart, and a good guy in general.

But, P.F. (yep, you guessed it . . . post-Faith), Buffy couldn’t help but find him just the slightest . . . dull and boring. Not wanting to have to let him down after showing an initial interest, she just stopped paying attention to him altogether.

Apparently, he hadn’t forgotten about her.

“Hi Buffy. How have you been doing? I hardly ever get the chance to talk to you anymore.” He said with a large, annoying smile.

Just the sight of him in front of her now was enough to make Buffy wish she had done a better job of ignoring him.

“I’m good, thanks. I’ve just been busy, you know? With the friends, and the new roommate, and the studying, and the slay . . .” she caught herself about to say slaying and quickly tried to cover, “slate. Yep, the slate.” She said nervously.

“The slate?”

“Yeah, you know, the slate. I’m . . . taking a geology class. Lots of slate. And rocks.”

An awkward silence filled the air as the two looked anywhere but at each other. Finally, Riley spoke up again.

“So, I was wondering if maybe you want to get a coffee or something. I don’t have any more classes today. But, if you’re busy now, maybe I could take you out later . . . “

Buffy quickly cut him off.

“Oh, that’s really nice of you to ask, Riley, but I . . . have to go to my geology class now. Yep, I have to hand in my report on . . . rocks.” She faltered a bit trying to hide her lie.

“Well, what about tonight? Do you want to go to the Bronze?” He asked, a hopeful smile appearing on his face.

“Oh, darn, you know what? I already have plans tonight. And tomorrow. In fact, I think I’m pretty busy for the next week or so. Sorry.” She said gently, trying to be nice, but clearly not wanting to leave any windows of opportunity open for him.

“Wow. Guess I gotta book a little farther ahead in advance if I want to get a date with you . . . .unless, of course, you’re seeing someone else. Which, I guess, would explain the lack of availability.” He gave her a questioning look.

“What? OH! Yeah, that’s it. I’m sorry, Riley. I am seeing someone else.” She lied, thinking that this was the best possible way to get him off of her back, at least for the time being.

Riley looked a little shocked. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that. After all, every time I see you, you’re always with your new roommate . . . Faith, right? I’ve never seen you with another guy. Unless . . .” then something dawned on him. “. . . wait a minute . . . is it Faith?”

Buffy just blinked, trying to come up with a response. Just as her silence was becoming a little too long, she happened to look out the window to see Faith walking by on her way back to the dorm.

“Faith?” Buffy murmured a she watched the girl walk by, forgetting that Riley was standing there.

Riley coughed quietly, trying to catch her attention. Her head snapped back and she looked directly at him.

‘Okay Buffy, this can work to your advantage. Tell him you’re “with” Faith. Then, not only will he think you’re taken, but he’ll think you’re gay, too. Two good reasons for him to leave you alone. Okay, go with it for now, deal with the consequences later.’

“Yep, Faith. Me and Faith. Together. With the dating and the hand-holding and all that. Guess we just haven’t made big with the publicity yet. Sorry.” She rushed the words out.

Riley just stood there, a defeated look on his face.

“Oh, ok. Well, I guess I’ll see you around then.” His voice sounded a little sad, but he put on a smile, trying to cover his real feelings. You know, the same stupid smile that made Buffy cringe just a little bit.

“Okay, bye!” Buffy yelled over her shoulder as she high-tailed it out of the building and straight towards Faith.

As she had reached the outside of the building, she could feel eyes on her from behind. Riley had followed her out and stood watching her from the doorway. Knowing that he was watching, she knew she had to put on a little show.

She ran up to Faith, but kept her own back towards Riley so he couldn’t see her face.

As she approached the dark girl, she called out to her just barely loud enough to get her attention.

“Faith!” Buffy called.

The younger girl turned towards Buffy with a smile on her face. “Hey girlfriend.” She noticed Buffy’s annoyed face. “What’s with the look?”

Through clenched teeth Buffy answered, “Riley is watching from the building behind me. I’ll explain later, but I need you to just play along with me for a minute here. Can you do that?”

Seeing Buffy’s pleading look, Faith nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“Good.”

Without warning, Buffy leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on Faith’s lips. She felt Faith tense up and could sense that her eyes had popped open in shock. She pulled back a few inches and looked Faith in the eye.

“Okay, now I need you to either hold my hand or put your arm around me as we walk away. You’re choice. Now, let’s go before he walks over.”

Faith shook her head a little as if trying to regain a little composure. After a moment or two, she finally came back to her senses. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she quickly grabbed the other girls’ hand and interlaced their fingers.

They began walking back towards their dorm, Buffy with a relieved look on her face and Faith with a genuinely content smile on hers.

Chapter Three – The Challenge

The two girls had walked quickly across the campus. Buffy’s grip on Faith’s hand had turned from gentle to vice-like when they had passed by large groups of people, etc.

“Relax, B. Nobody cares. If they’re not doin’ it in public, they’re doin’ the same thing in private. This is college . . . live a little!”

“I am relaxed, F. I’m the definition of relaxed.” She said through clenched teeth, her body rigid. “Look up the word ‘relaxed’ in the dictionary, and it will say ‘Summers comma Buffy’. There will even be a little picture of me next to it.”

Faith just glanced at the other girl in amusement.

“Yeah, whatever B.”

She chuckled at Buffy as the blonde tensed up when she gave her a little spank on her backside.

Buffy finally released her death-grip on Faith’s hand when they entered their dorm room. She sighed heavily as she threw herself down on her bed, burying her face into a pillow.

Faith just laughed at the sight in front of her. She kicked off her boots before plopping down on her back next to Buffy. She crossed her legs at her ankles and rested her arms behind her head, making herself as comfortable as possible on the small bed.

“So, are ya gonna tell me what happened, or are we gonna play 20 Questions here? She asked.

“Mmfphh.” Buffy answered, her words muffled by her pillow.

“Fine then, 20 Questions it is. Kick your legs if I guess right. Okay, so let’s see here . . . you were in Psych, right?”

Buffy kicked her legs.

“Okay. Hmm . . . and it involves Riley, right? ‘Cuz he was watchin’ you like a hawk when you walked outta the building.”

Buffy kicked again.

“So . . . okay, I think I almost got it figured out: you’re in class, and you’re daydreamin’ . . .”

Kick.

“. . . most likely about me . . .”

A pause, then a small kick.

Faith smirked. “. . . and ya don’t even realize class is over until you see everyone get up and leave . . .”

Kick.

“. . . which gives Riley the perfect opportunity to corner you . . .”

Kick.

“. . . and confess his undying love for wearin’ women’s underwear?”

She stole a quick glance over at Buffy and noticed that while she didn’t kick, her body shuddered as if she were laughing.

“Okay, so that wasn’t what happened. Let’s see . . . he corners you . . . and asks ya out to do somethin’ lame, like get coffee?”

Kick.

Faith laughed. “Man, what a fuckin’ loser. Seriously . . . who asks someone out on a date to go for coffee these days?”

Buffy lifted her face from her pillow, which had left a series of funny little imprints on her face.

“Not everyone is as bold as you are, Faith. How many people besides yourself do you know that actually walk up to someone and say, ‘I’m hungry and horny. What say you and me get somethin’ to eat and then take care of that other part at your place’?”

Faith scoffed. “Whatever, B. Let’s not forget the fact that unlike your boyfriend Riley, I have never been turned down before.”

“Except for by me.” Buffy added.

“Except for by you.” Faith commented. “But I’m still workin’ on that.” She winked at the other girl.

Buffy just laughed at the other girl and shook her head.

“Anyways, back to my problem.”

“Right.” Faith said, putting her game face back on. “So, he asks you out for coffee, and you do the smart thing and say ‘fuck no’?”

“Basically . . . just less with the ‘fuck’. Then, he asked me to go Bronzing with him, and I told him I had plans. Actually, I told him I was busy for the next week or so.”

Faith looked confused. “So . . . what then? Beefstick couldn’t take the hint?”

“Well. . . he kinda got the impression that I’m seeing someone.” She nervously lowered her head and began to play with the hem of her shirt.

“Oh yeah? And how’d he come up with that little gem?” Faith asked.

“I, uh . . . well, he said that he hasn’t seen me with anyone besides you, and he kinda guessed that it was, uh, you.” Buffy responded quietly as if she were afraid to say it. She hesitantly raised her eyes to gauge Faith’s reaction.

Faith began to laugh hysterically. She removed her arms from behind her head and brought them in front of her to clutch her sides.

“Man! That’s fuckin’ classic. Hah. So, what did ya end up tellin’ him?” She asked, not catching onto the obvious.

Buffy began to blush a little.

“Well . . . I didn’t end up telling him anything. I, umm, I kinda let him think he was right.” She looked up at the other girl through her eyelashes, putting on her best innocent look.

An evil-looking grin appeared on Faith’s face.

“Oh ya did, now did ya? Is that some kind of deep, dark desire finally bubbling to the surface? I think your subconscious is trying to tell ya somethin’, girlfriend.” She joked.

Buffy pouted. “Oh, come on, Faith! I didn’t know what else to do. He was making with the moon eyes and that stupid grin, and I could practically feel my IQ dropping just from being near him for so long. It’s just a little white lie. Him thinking that I’m taken and that I’m gay? . . . not the worst thing that could’ve happened. Maybe he’ll leave me alone now, at least for a while.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that, twinkie. What are ya gonna do when he sees us out and about together, and he doesn’t get a repeat performance of what he saw this afternoon? Or when he sees you or me dancin’ with some random hottie at the Bronze? Seems to me like your ‘little white lie’ just turned into a big flaming disaster.” Faith teased, jabbing Buffy in the ribs every now and then to drive her point home.

Buffy remained quiet for a minute, trying to work out in her head what Faith had just explained to her. Feeling defeated, she once again collapsed face-first onto the bed, her face buried in her pillow.

“Shit.” She murmured into her pillow. “Am I tragically destined somehow to be the girlfriend of that corn-fed meathead?”

Faith couldn’t help but laugh at her. In a last ditch effort to give the girl a little comfort, she ran her hand along Buffy’s back and played with her hair a little before speaking.

“Listen, B. I may have a certain lacking of inhibitions and morals, but I don’t lack a heart, especially when it comes to you. If you really want the Beefstick off of your back, I’ll go along with the whole charade for a while.”

Buffy lifted her head from her pillow just enough to look at the other girl.

“What . . . what do you mean? Like, if we’re out and we see him, you’ll pretend to be my girlfriend . . . like hold my hand or kiss me?”

“Yeah, somethin’ like that, B.”

Buffy smiled. “You’d really do that for me?”

“Yeah, really. I don’t mind . . . you know I’m always tryin’ to kiss you and embarrass you and stuff when we’re out as it is. I love testin’ your limits. Now I’ll have an excuse to do it without you getting’ all bad-moody at me.” Faith replied.

Really, she wasn’t lying. Since she and Buffy had become roommates, she was always pushing the line a little, trying to see how far she could get Buffy to go before her inhibitions popped back up.

On more than one occasion, she would sneak in small kisses while they were dancing at the Bronze. Sometimes, if Buffy were in a particularly good mood (or if she had enough alcohol in her), she would let Faith get away with it. Heck, once or twice the small blonde had even initiated it. But other times, she would push Faith away and just say, ‘not here’ or ‘find someone else to take your hornies out on.’

Still, Faith had never tried to hide her actions towards Buffy. She pretty much made it perfectly clear that if Buffy was willing, then she was more than happy to meet her halfway. She was just waiting for the day when Buffy would finally listen to her inner ‘experimental college-girl’ voice and just give in to the temptations around her.

Suddenly, Faith’s eyes got wide and a smile crept over her face as if she had realized something.

“Faaaaith?” Buffy asked, a bit uneasy at the look on the brunette’s face. “What’s with the look? You’re scheming, aren’t you? Should I be scared?”

“B, I think this might be the perfect little intro to that challenge I promised ya.” She said with a glint in her eyes.

Buffy rolled her eyes a little. “I shudder to think. Do I dare to ask?”

Faith put on a wicked little smirk and rolled onto her side to face the blonde laying next to her.

“Okay. So, I’m always tellin’ you that you need to loosen up a little, shed some of you inhibitions, and to just . . . LIVE, right?”

Buffy just nodded her head, not entirely sure where this was going. Faith continued.

“Right. Now, like I said before, I’m willing to keep up the charade that we’re dating for awhile. But this is where the fun part comes in: we’re not gonna pretend, or fake it. For the next . . . oh, 10 days . . . you’re gonna be my girlfriend. And by girlfriend, I mean the hand-holding, the smooches, the public-displays-of affection, and whatever else we can come up with that couples do.”

Buffy’s eyes almost bugged out of her head.

“Faith, I don’t think that I can . . .”

“Exactly!” Faith interrupted. “You don’t THINK that you can do somethin’ like that with me, a girl. You’ve convinced yourself that ya can’t do it, and that ya don’t want it. But, do ya remember that wicked little ability that I rocked your world with this afternoon?”

“Yeahhhhh?” Buffy responded.

“Well, not only am I gonna prove to you that you can do it . . . I’m gonna prove to you that you want it just as much. And even further? I think that after those 10 days are up, you’re gonna find that those inhibitions you cling to so dearly have flown out the window. You’re gonna want to continue thins ‘thing,’ and not just to fool the Beefstick.”

Buffy’s surprised look turned to one of amusement, and with a smug tone she asked the other girl, “You’re so sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Abso-fuckin-lutely. You won’t know if you’re coming or going by the time that I’m done with you. Wait, I take that back. You’ll definitely know if you’re coming, I’ll make damn sure of that.” She stated, waggling her eyebrows.

Buffy put on her best self-righteous smile.

“Alright, Faith. You’re on. You’ve got 10 days to make me realize that I want ‘this’.” She pointed back and forth between the two of then. “I hope you don’t take defeat too hard, ‘cuz this is one challenge that I am not going to lose.”

As a gesture of good sportsmanship, she held out her hand to Faith, offering her a handshake on the deal.

Faith looked at Buffy’s hand and grabbed it, then looked up to meet her eyes. “I better get started, we don’t wanna waste any time.” She stated as she pulled the other girl to her in a quick motion, crashing their lips together in a heated kiss.

Chapter Four -- Tease

Buffy’s first reaction to the kiss was to resist it, to push the brunette away and be sarcastic about it. However, she suddenly found herself indulging in the softness of the other girls’ lips, enjoying the taste that was uniquely Faith . . . cinnamon and brown sugar.

The hand that was on Faith’s shoulder, originally there to push her away, was now tangled up in her dark tresses. Her other hand was still intertwined with Faith’s, trapped in the space between their two bodies that was slowly but surely getting smaller and smaller.

Somehow, their legs had become intertwined and the two girls were getting closer and closer without even realizing it. Neither seemed to protest.

Faith, for her part, was exploring every part of Buffy that she could reach. Her free hand roamed from the older girls’ ass, to the small of her back, up to her neck pulling her even deeper into the kiss, and finally back down to rest at the small of her back again.

Feeling more that a little bold, Faith reached under the hem of Buffy’s shirt and slowly ran her hand along the skin of her back. She traced little circles and patterns, loving the feel of the soft skin on her fingertips.

Buffy audibly moaned into Faith’s mouth at the feather-light touches on her back, and the brunette couldn’t help but smile into the kiss.

Finally, the two slayers broke apart, breathing hard while looking into one another’s eyes.

“That was . . . wow.” Buffy stated breathlessly, wriggling her hand out of Faith’s. She brought both of her hands up to the younger girl and brushed away a stray piece of air before cupping her face and leaning in to place a kiss on her full bottom lip.

“Mmmm.” Faith replied, finally pulling back a little so she could talk. “Hell yeah it was. I could definitely get used to you lettin’ me take charge like that.”

Buffy giggled. “Yeah. I guess we both know who wears the pants in this ‘relationship’.”

With her infamous smirk planted on her face, Faith raised an eyebrow and answered, “Well, if it’s up to me, neither of us are gonna be wearing pants all that much.” She leaned in and kissed Buffy’s forehead. “Or shirts.” She kissed the tip of her nose. “Or much of anything else.”

She leaned in to engage the blonde in another steamy kiss, lightly tugging at the hem of her shirt. But Buffy put her hand on the girls’ shoulder to stop her movement. She raised up her eyebrows and gave Faith a doubtful and questioning look.

“Anxious much, Faith? Please. You don’t really think that I’m gonna hop into bed with you this quick do you? According to my calculations . . . we haven’t even had a first date.” She put on a pleased smile knowing that she had the upper hand.

“B . . . you already hopped into bed with me. In fact . . . here we still are. In bed. With the closeness. Besides . . . I’ve known you for almost 2 years. Oh! And . . . we already live together. Now, according to MY calculations, that practically makes us married. So give it up, girlfriend.”

She leaned in for another kiss only to come into contact with Buffy’s hand yet again.

“B . . . Buffy, you gotta be fuckin kiddin’ me here! Is this about you wantin’ to punk outta the challenge?” She asked, knowing that Buffy would want to prove herself.

The blonde just scoffed.

“I’m all about the challenge, Faith. But challenge or not . . . I don’t put out on the first date.”

“Oh yeah? What about Parker, B?” Faith asked, knowing right away that she should’ve never opened her mouth. She knew it was the one thing she could say that would hurt the other girl, and for some reason, it had accidentally come out.

Buffy just glared at her, a hurt look on her face. She didn’t bother to say anything. After blinking hard a few times, she simply got up from the bed and walked across the room, heading for the door.

Before she could reach it, she felt a pair of arms circle her waist from behind, stopping her from moving any further. She immediately tensed up.

“I’m sorry.” Faith whispered against her ear. “That was stupid. I shoulda kept my mouth shut; it’s none of my business. Please . . . don’t leave like that.” She nuzzled into Buffy’s neck, placing several small kisses along her neck and shoulder.

The older girl relaxed and covered Faith’s arms with her own.

“That’s still a really sore subject for me. You know that, Faith. If you’re trying to get on my good side, why would you even bring that up?” She asked, still turned away from the other girl.

“What can I say? I’m an asshole, B. Coulda told you that a long time ago. Sometimes stuff like that gets past my internal Censor, but I’ll try and work on it, ‘kay?”

Buffy quickly turned in Faith’s arms, a big smile on her face.

“Hah. Now look who’s wearing the pants, Faithy. A whole 5 minutes after our first intimate kiss and I have you apologizing, calling yourself and asshole and trying to reform yourself. Damn, I’m good.”

Faith laughed.

“Suuuuuuure. Use the guilt trip and the ‘sad-puppy’ look to get me groveling. That’s a nice trick. But you realize now that this is war, right?”

Buffy furrowed her eyebrows. “War?”

“Oh yeah. War. It’s on now, B.” Faith replied with a devilish grin.

“Uh, Faith? I’m not quite riding on your ‘thought train’ here. What exactly are you talking ab . . .” she said, not able to finish her sentence as the brunette began a tickle attack on her.

“Faith, no!!!!!” She screamed between laughs, trying desperately to squirm out of Faith’s grasp. She finally managed to wriggle free and ran across the room, throwing herself onto her bed.

“I’m sorry, B, but this is the way it’s gotta be.” Faith stated with a smile, happily chasing after the other girl.

She was momentarily halted by the barrage of pillows and stuffed animals that Buffy threw at her from the bed, but quickly regained her footing as the other girl ran out of things to throw.

“Whatcha gonna do now, B? Looks to me like your arsenal is empty . . . nothing left to throw at me.” Faith said, creeping towards the bed.

“Oh, I’ve got one more thing to throw your way, Faithy.” Buffy replied, pulling herself up on her knees and bracing herself for the brunette’s approach.

Faith advanced on the bed in a predatory fashion and was now only about a foot away from the older girl. She dropped her hands to her sides and cocked her head, an amused look on her face.

“Oh yeah? What’s that, twinkie?”

“This.” Buffy stated, grabbing Faith by the shirt and pulling her into a heated kiss. She immediately ran her tongue along the brunette’s lower lip and was granted access into her mouth.

There was nothing soft or gentle about the kiss as lips, teeth, and tongues came into contact. Both girls groaned into the kiss as Buffy fell back onto the bed, pulling Faith down on top of her.

Immediately, Faith crawled up Buffy’s body and her thigh found its way between the girls’ legs. She began rocking forward, applying just the right amount of pressure to the blonde’s center to make the girl moan.

“Mmmmm, Faith.” Buffy groaned, unconsciously raising her own thigh so that it was having the same effect on the other girl.

She wrapped her hands around Faith back and her hands quickly found themselves on the other girls’ ass. She pulled the brunette down even harder onto her, increasing the pressure on both of their centers.

“Fuck, B.” Faith groaned into Buffy’s mouth. Their kissing had never halted, neither girl wanting to lose the warm contact of each other’s mouth.

Faith took Buffy’s hands on her ass as a sign that it was okay to go further, so without hesitation, she ran her hands freely over the blonde’s body, exploring as she went.

When her hands finally reached Buffy’s breasts, she felt the girl freeze under her. She halted all of her movement as well, waiting for Buffy to do or say something. After a moment or so passed and nothing happened, she lifted her head up to gaze down at the girl.

“B?” She asked, eyebrows furrowed and a worried look on her face.

“Faith . . .” Buffy said breathlessly, blinking hard a few times to regain her senses, “. . . I’m . . . I’m sorry, I can’t do this yet.”

The brunette growled and rolled her eyes, letting her entire weight fall on the small blonde.

“I’m sorry, Faith. I just got caught up in the moment. But, on a good note . . . at least I know how to get you to stop tickling me.” She beamed.

Faith, for her part, just laid there, her head in the crook of Buffy’s neck, enjoying the scent of the other girl . . . vanilla and pears, thanks to her shampoo.

Finally, she managed to groan out a few words.

“You . . . are . . . a complete . . . and total . . . cock-tease.” She heard Buffy scoff, so she corrected herself, “I’m sorry . . . I mean poon-tease. A complete and total poon-tease.”

Buffy laughed. “Okay, I’m a ‘poon-tease’, and you’re dead weight. Get off me, I can’t breath.” She said, rolling the brunette off of her.

Both Buffy and Faith now lay side to side on the small bed staring up at the ceiling, breathing hard. Faith grabbed Buffy’s hand and brought it up to her mouth, placing a small kiss on it.

“Buffy . . . honey, sugar, baby, peaches, love bug, sweetie . . . how long until we can make with the lovin?” She asked, a small whine in her voice.

Buffy laughed again. “I see that patience is NOT a virtue to you.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “I just need to get used to this. Give me a couple days.”

Faith rolled onto her side to face the blonde. “A couple days? Buffy, I only have 10 days to break you. Ten days to convince you that THIS,” she pointed back and forth between the two of them, “is what you want. If you won’t let me show you, how can I make you want it?” She pleaded.

Buffy rolled onto her side and gently smiled at the brunette. “Here’s the thing, Faith. I think that I may already want ‘this’.” She pointed back and forth between the two of them. “And not just since the kissing thing a few minutes ago. Since always. We can’t deny that we have some sort of a connection. Be it Slayer or otherwise, I don’t know. Maybe that’s why I accepted the challenge . . . to finally figure out exactly what it is between us.”

Faith sighed. “So, what’s the problem then? It is the social stigma thing? Cuz I already told ya, B. No one cares. It’s all old hat.”

“The problem is this, Faith: What happens if we do the relationship thing and the sex thing for 10 days. What happens if after those 10 days, I DON’T want ‘this’. What happens to our friendship, Faith? I value you and your friendship too much to have it all go to hell over something like this.” She lowered her head and waited for Faith’s response.

After a minute, the brunette finally responded.

“Listen, B. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. That’s why it’s a challenge . . . we don’t know the outcome. I say . . . we let things happen as we feel and as we see fit. After 10 days, if you don’t want it . . . well, we go back to our old ways: I’m a slayer, you’re a slayer, we’re both college students, and we’re friends. So, c’mon. What d’ya say?”

Buffy thought about it, and then smiled.

“Alright. I say let’s do it.” She closed her eyes and leaned in towards Faith to engage her in another kiss, but his time, she felt the other girls’ hands stop her.

She opened her eyes to see a grinning Faith staring back at her.

“Hold that thought for awhile, B. I got some business to take care of.” She said as she got up from the bed and straightened herself out.

Buffy pouted from the bed, watching Faith as she moved across the room.

“But . . . I though maybe we could do a little more of what we started before.” She said sheepishly, looking up at Faith through her eyelashes. “I’m a little hot and bothered after that little game we were playing.”

Faith smiled, loving the fact that she had the upper-hand.

“Sorry, B. Like I said . . . business.”

Buffy pouted again. “Business? What’s more important than impromptu kissage with your quasi-girlfriend?”

Faith laughed.

“Well, sugar-pie honeybunch snookums . . . I . . . am going to tell your friends about our little set-up. This way, they won’t be shocked when they see us all over each other.”

Buffy was about to protest, but then she realized that Faith probably had the right idea. Also, this way, she wouldn’t have to tell them herself.

“Just don’t tell my mom . . . or Giles. That would be all sorts of new levels of weird and awkward.” She said. Then, “But . . . baby . . . don’t you think it could wait a little while? I think I need a little more attention over here.” She said in her best little girl voice. She sat up seductively on the bed, trying to lull the other girl over to her.

Faith just laughed.

“Sorry, twinks. Gotta get this outta the way. Just . . . put it on the back-burner for awhile.” She said as she opened the door and began to make her way out.

Just before she was about to close the door behind her, she leaned back in and blew a kiss to Buffy, winking her eye as she did so. Before the blonde could respond, Faith slipped back out and closed the door behind her.

“Tease!” Buffy yelled loudly as she flopped back down on her disheveled bed.

Chapter Five – Gotta Have Faith

Willow just stared at the dark slayer with a confused look on her face.

“Let me just see if I have this right: You convinced Buffy to eat a plum . . . Riley asked her out to do something lame . . . he thinks you and Buffy are going out. . . so you and Buffy ARE going out?” She asked, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

“At least for 10 days. I told her I could convince her that’s what she wants.” Faith answered nonchalantly.

“Like you convinced her about the plum?” Willow asked doubtfully, her eyebrow raised.

Faith sighed. “Okay, the plum thing was a fluke . . . I knew that she’d be wicked hungry cuz she missed breakfast this mornin’, and she always joneses for sweet or sugary stuff halfway through the day anyway. I took the plum and pretended I was gonna eat it, and she grabbed it back. Basic psychology, Red. That, and common sense.”

Willow laughed a little.

“So . . . the Buffster and you are seriously going to try this?”

“Yep. Startin’ today, for 10 days, she’s mine and I’m hers. I keep tellin’ her that college is about tryin’ new things. You know that first-hand, Red. Buffy’s too shy and uptight to just try it with some random person and god knows I’ve been tryin’ to push her buttons since last semester. So, I just decided to step up to bat. Besides, I’m also doin’ this to help her get Riley off her back. Beefstick can’t seem to take a hint.”

“I just hope the both of you can handle this. You’re the ‘get some get gone’ girl, and she’s more of the ‘white picket fence’ girl. I hope this isn’t just a sex thing for you, Faith, because Buffy is sensitive when it comes to that stuff. Sex isn’t just a pleasure thing for her . . . it’s an emotion thing.” Willow stated, making sure to get the point across that she was serious.

Faith shook her head. “It’s not just a sex thing, Red. I mean, I’m not gonna rule sex out, cuz . . . well, I’m not an idiot . . . healthy young woman here with an even healthier sex-jones. Plus, it’s Buffy . . . hello . . . hotness abounds, or whatever. But, it’s more than that.” She hesitated before continuing. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, Red.”

She leaned in, indicating for Willow to do the same thing. Willow laughed internally just thinking how young Faith looked at that moment.

“It’s . . . it’s not just a challenge for Buffy. It’s a challenge for me too, only she doesn’t know that. Ya see . . . I’ve never done the relationship ‘thing’. Like you said, I’m the ‘get some get gone’ girl. But I figure, I’m always on Buffy’s back to try a little change and expand her horizons, so I should take my own advice. If I had to choose someone to be in a relationship with, it’d be B. We have this connection. I can’t really explain it, but she feels it too, told me so this afternoon. So, we both have a challenge here. Hers is to let go of those fuckin inhibitions and try the ‘girl thing’, and mine is to do the relationship thing and behave . . . y’know, listen to my morals or whatever.”

Willow watched intently as the other girl rambled on. She could see that it wasn’t just a sex thing because if it was, Faith wouldn’t be trying to explain and defend herself so much. She finally decided to let the other girl off the hook.

“Okay, Faith. I believe you. I’ll go along with the whole thing, and I’ll even be ‘Support Girl’. If you need my help along the way, I’m here, even if it’s just to help you arrange stuff with the Buffster.” She gave Faith a friendly smile which the dark slayer promptly returned. “But . . . if you hurt her, I’ll curse you with a set of horns and a tail, okay?”

Faith laughed.

“Yeah, Red. I get it. Hey, I hope ya don’t think I’m cuttin’ ya short here or nothin, but I gotta get to the construction site to talk to Xan-man before he leaves. So, we’re cool, right?” She asked as she stood up, getting ready to leave.

Willow nodded. “Like an igloo.”

Faith chuckled. “Guess that’s pretty friggin cool, Red. Alright, I’ll catch ya later. Tell TT I said ‘Hey’.”

30 Minutes Later at the Construction Site

“So . . . the Buffster and ‘She-of-little-Faith’ are gonna be making with the girly action?” Xander asked.

Faith just nodded with a grin on her face.

“Okay, cool.” Xander replied. “You wouldn’t by any chance be willing to let me watch, would you?” Xander joked with a goofy smile on his face.

Faith gave him a menacing glare. “No.”

“No, I didn’t think so.” Xander answered quickly, sounding only minutely dejected. “Well, you better get on your girly-loving way. I don’t wanna keep Buffy away from her love bug for too long.”

With an amused smile, Faith turned and began to walk away after saying, “Thanks, Xan-man. I’ll be sure to make doubles if we take any pictures.”

Xander laughed.

Faith couldn’t help but think, ‘Damn. That was a lot easier than Red. And less with the threats.’

“Hey, Faith, there’s just one thing I forgot.” Xander called out.

The dark slayer halted and turned around expectantly. “Yeahhhhh?”

“You break her heart, I break your legs . . . or at least I die trying.” He said in a serious tone but with a big smile on his face.

“I’ll hold ya to that.” Faith said as she turned around and headed off to her dorm, and to her . . . girlfriend. Gasp.

Meanwhile, Back at the Dorm

Buffy stepped out of their private bathroom after taking a VERY long, cold shower. She needed to make sure that she cooled herself down before Faith got back, otherwise she might completely forget her inhibitions and jump her right then and there.

She couldn’t help but smile when she thought about how lucky they were to have their own private bathroom. Only two rooms per floor were equipped with that luxury and usually, they were designated for the Resident Advisors. However, the college had changed its rules and now staffed only one advisor per floor rather than the usual two. The other room was put up in a lottery, and somehow, Buffy had won it.

At first, she thought that the ‘private bathroom’ was the reason that Faith wanted to room with her. After all, she had to share with 8 other roommates in her old apartment. Though the brunette had admitted that the bathroom was definitely a helping factor in her decision, she said that the bigger part of her decision was simply that she’d rather room with her sister-slayer than anyone else.

Buffy hummed to herself as she walked around the room in her towel, trying to pick out an outfit while tidying up the mess that she made with the pillows and stuffed animals. Deciding that she needed some music, she walked to Faith’s CD player and hit play.

An old Limp Bizkit CD began to filter through the speakers. A year ago, Buffy would have immediately put on something else, like Sarah Mclachlan or Madonna, or even No Doubt if she was feeling a little saucy. But now, she actually enjoyed the music that Faith was always blaring. It made her feel energetic and crazy, and just a little bit untamed.

She continued to straighten up around the room, picking up the chewed wads of gum, empty pop cans and water bottles, and dirty clothes that lingered in areas. Not to say that the two slayers were slobs, especially when compared to some of their fellow classmates. Still, they did leave things just a little bit messy sometimes, too preoccupied with homework, slaying, or going out to really care.

Just as she was about to enter the bathroom to finish getting ready, a new song began and she stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around to look at the stereo with a large grin on her face.

“Oh my god . . . you have GOT to be kidding me!” She said aloud, giggling as she walked to the other side of the room and picked up the empty CD case, turning it over in her hands to look at the playlist.

An idea quickly sprung into her mind. Knowing that her roommate could be back at any moment, she hopped into action.

“Well, I guess that if you ‘gotta have faith’, you’ve gotta do it the right way.” She giggled.

The blonde slayer quickly ran around the room, gathering up a few different articles of clothing before heading into the bathroom. Just as she was about the close the bathroom, she ran back out to Faith’s closet and grabbed something from it with a smile on her face.

With a mischievous smile planted firmly on her face, she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, humming the song all the way.

45-Minutes Later at the Room

Faith entered the room with a smile on her face.

“Honeyyyyy, I’m hoooooooome!” She sang out, immediately searching the room for Buffy.

She instantly noticed that the room had been straightened up. She could also tell that the older girl had showered, as the fresh scent of her vanilla-pear shampoo lingered throughout the room.

Her attention was caught by something that was distinctly out of place in the newly straightened room: the chair from her desk sat in the middle of the room between the two beds. On it was a piece of paper, folded in half and propped up like a card.

She sauntered over to the chair, searching out of the corner of her eyes for the blonde slayer. When she got to the chair, she picked up the paper and unfolded it.

‘Sit Down.’ was the only thing written on it.

‘Okay, I’ll play along.’ Faith thought.

With a cocky grin on her face, the brunette plopped down on the chair. She folded her arms behind her head and stretched her legs out, crossing them at her ankles. When she was comfortable, she decided to find out what was going on.

“B? I got your note, and I’m sittin’ here patiently like a good little Slayer. Now, are ya gonna tell me what this is about or do I have to burst in there and force it outta ya?” She yelled in the general direction of the closed bathroom door.

After a minute passed and she got no response, she was just about to lift herself out of the chair when she heard the door creak open just a crack. She laughed to herself when she saw Buffy’s hand sneak out of the small crack, clutching onto something.

‘What is that? It is the remote control to my stereo? What is she . . .’ Faith was suddenly broken from her thoughts when she heard a familiar tune began to filter through her stereo.

Faith smiled to herself. It was “Faith” by Limp Bizkit, a cover of the old George Michael song.

Suddenly, Buffy stepped out of the bathroom barefoot, dressed in the tightest pair of jeans that she had, now torn at the knee. She had on a tight white ‘wife-beater’ tank top that was barely visible under Faith’s black leather jacket. Her long blonde hair was blown-dry straight and left to shaggily hang over her eyes and shoulders. As a finishing touch, she had applied a thick layer of Faith’s charcoal gray eyeliner and smoothed on some of the ‘Harlot’ lipstick that she had taken from her mother’s makeup box.

Faith inhaled sharply at the sight in front of her. Buffy looked . . . well, FUCKING HOT. Especially when she was looking up through her heavily mascara-d eyelashes, like she was doing right now.

‘Holy shit’ the brunette thought as she tightly grabbed onto the armrests of the chair.

Buffy smiled, momentarily distracted by the brunette’s reaction. However, she quickly looked away, determined to get through with her plan.

As the vocals of the song began, she started to lip-sync the words.

“Well I guess it would be nice

if I could touch your body

I know not everybody

has gotta body like me”

She ran her hands up and down her body, dancing provocatively as she approached the seated brunette.

“But I gotta think twice

before I give my heart away

and I know all the games you play

'cause I play them too . . .”

By this point of the song, she had made her way over to the brunette and now was sitting in her lap, her back to the other girl’s chest. She wriggled around, making sure to create just the right amount of friction on Faith’s lap.

She continued to lip-sync the words, looking over her shoulder to gauge the other girls’ reaction. Faith’s lips were parted and Buffy could tell that her teeth were clenched beneath them, trying to hold back and groans that were trying to escape. The blonde leaned back farther, casually licking Faith’s bottom lip before hopping off of her lap and jumping onto the bed as the tempo changed.

“I’ve gotta have faith!

gotta have faith!

gotta have faith!

gotta have faith!”

She pretended to scream the words as the singer did while ripping off the leather jacket and tossing it across the room. Her toned figure was revealed through the tight clothes as she stood on the bed, alternating between jumping and doing a sexy little dance. She made sure to keep here eyes firmly locked on the brunette in the chair below her.

Faith, for her part, was trying to look very ‘cool’. But it was quite obvious that she was getting hot and bothered. Her chest was rapidly rising and falling, and her pupils had dilated so much that her eyes looked black from desire.

As the tempo of the song finally began to slow down, Buffy finally hopped down off of the bed and sat on Faith’s lap so that she was facing the girl. She gave the brunette a huge smile as she wrapped her arms around her neck.

“So, Day One of the Challenge is here, and I thought I’d make it official.” She beamed.

“Yeah, I guess you did.” Was all that Faith could reply, still a little taken aback by the blonde’s little display.

“So . . . you like?” Buffy asked, suddenly feeling a little shy.

Faith gave her a wicked grin. “Yeah, I definitely fuckin like. Didn’t think you had it in ya, B. Let me tell ya . . . I can definitely get used to stuff like this.”

“Good.” Buffy stated, moving one of her hands to Faith’s face. “Because for 10 days, you get the special ‘Buffy Treatment’, complete with silly and sexy dances alike.” She brushed a piece of hair out of the younger girls’ face before running her thumb over her full bottom lip.

Faith, feeling more than a bit frisky, quickly opened her mouth and licked Buffy’s thumb, sending a shiver through the other girls’ body. She released the blonde’s thumb and smirked.

“Okay. And for 10 days, you get the special ‘Faith Treatment’, complete with shivers and chills alike.”

“Hmm. I think I could get to like that.” Buffy stated with a smile as she closed the distance between the two of them, finally bringing their lips together in a soft kiss.

“Oh, hell yeah.” Faith mumbled into Buffy’s mouth, causing both of them to giggle.

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