After running out of the bar, Faith found herself wondering where she was going to go and what her next move was. There was no way that she was about to go back to the dorm and spend the night there with Buffy, but she really had nowhere else to go.

Focusing on her anger, she decided instead to patrol through the night and get her hurt out on any unsuspecting nasties that crossed her path.

Only when the moon had crossed the sky and the sun was well on its rise in the east did she decide to make her way back to the dorm to gather a few of her things. She figured that Buffy would be out of the room and sitting through her first class by now.

As she stood outside of the dorm, she closed her eyes and focused on her Slayer senses, trying to feel if Buffy was nearby. After sensing nothing, she grabbed her key out of her pocket and nonchalantly opened up the door to their room.

Faith casually walked in but froze about two steps into the room when she saw Buffy walk out of the bathroom. The two Slayers locked eyes, both frozen where they stood.

Faith’s first instinct was to walk up to the blonde and give her a big hug and kiss, but then she remembered that she was supposed to be pissed off.

Shaking her head a little and letting go of Buffy’s gaze, Faith mumbled “Slayer senses, my ass” as she walked over to her side of the room.

“Hey.” Buffy said, finally managing to find her voice. “Umm, sorry about the Slayer senses thing. I had Willow dull them for a day.” She said awkwardly.

“Cuz that’s a safe thing to do.” Faith said sarcastically as she rummaged through the pile of laundry on the floor. “Take away one of the few advantages we have over the nasties. Yeah, seems perfectly fuckin logical to me.”

Buffy shook her head and sighed.

“It’s not like I had any other choice, Faith. I was looking for you for hours, and every time I’d start to feel you, you’d run off in the other direction. I thought that maybe if you thought I wasn’t here, you’d come back and we could talk.”

Faith scoffed at the blonde’s words.

“Nothin to talk about, twinks. You made that perfectly clear last night.”

She continued searching through the pile of clothes, throwing a few random articles onto her bed. The only time she glanced up was to check to see what was on the bed, but she made sure to avoid looking at Buffy at any cost.

Buffy hesitantly took a few steps closer, not wanting to spook the brunette and cause her to run.

“Yes, there is something to talk about. Us, Faith. We need to talk about us.” She said gently, inching closer and closer until she was finally on the younger girls’ side of the room.

Again, Faith scoffed.

“Apparently, there is no ‘us’, B. You tried to play like ‘us’ didn’t exist with one glance from Parker. I may be lots of things I’m not proud of, but I’ve never been anyone’s dark dirty secret.” Finally, she raised her tired eyes to meet Buffy’s. “The part that kills me is that you did that to me. You made me feel that way. After all we’ve been through the last few days, I . . . you . . . oh, fuck this.”

Faith shook her head and broke her eyes away from Buffy before angrily stomping to her closet and getting a duffle bag.

She made her way back to her bed where she proceeded to shove the clothes she had hastily thrown there into the bag.

Buffy, who had remained silent through Faith’s little rant, suddenly found her voice again. She realized that Faith was about to run. Maybe not to another town, but definitely as far away from her as the brunette could get without shirking her responsibilities.

“What are you doing?” She asked quietly.

“What does it look like I’m doin?” Faith snapped. “I’m leavin. Ain’t it obvious?”

Buffy did her best to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. They were burning her throat, but she was still able to speak shakily.

“Why? Where?”

Faith chuckled bitterly, still avoiding Buffy’s tearful gaze.

“Why? Cuz I can’t stay here with you, B. I’m too pissed off right now and if I stay, I’ll probably say somethin stupid or make ya cry. Where? Fucked if I know. Anywhere with a couch for me to crash on. You weren’t the only one who didn’t sleep last night.”

Buffy went to take a step closer but stopped when she saw the brunette tense up.

“You can stay here, you know. This is your room, too.”

“I already told ya, I’m not gonna stand around here and argue with ya all day. I need to sleep and I can’t do that if you’re busy yappin’ and playin Miss Self-Righteous all day long.”

Buffy looked down at her feet, not knowing exactly how to respond. At that point, she knew that she had hurt Faith pretty bad and that the girl had put her walls back up as a result. From experience, she knew that the brunette needed some time to simmer down and mellow out.

Still, she didn’t want the girl to slip through her fingers and out of her grasp completely.

“Well, there’s no sense in you leaving right now.” Buffy began. “I have to go to class, then I have to go to the computer lab to do some more work. If you’re not going to your classes, you can stay as long as you like . . . I’ll try to make myself scarce until I get back from patrol tonight.”

Faith felt like she should reject the offer or put up more of a fight, but her endless hours of slaying and her lack of sleep was finally catching up to her.

After a minute of thinking it over, Faith finally spoke.

“Whatever. I’ll be gone by the time you get back tonight.”

Silence filled the room as Faith cleared off her bed and arranged the rest of her laundry and as Buffy finished getting ready for class.

Just as the blonde Slayer was putting on her jacket, she turned to Faith, not wanting to leave without saying goodbye.

“So . . . I’m gonna go to class now. Is there, I mean . . . are you gonna come slaying with me tonight?” She asked sheepishly.

Faith chuckled.

“I’m not sure you really wanna be around me and weapons right now.” She glanced up and saw the hurt expression on the blonde’s face and instantly felt a pang of guilt. “Fuck, I didn’t mean it like that. I . . see what I mean, Buffy? This is why I can’t be around ya right now. I’m not petty enough to actually WANT to hurt you that way.”

Without saying another word, she lay down on her bed and pulled the comforter up over her body. She wasn’t exactly sure what Buffy was doing because her back was towards the blonde, but she knew that the girl was still standing there.

When she heard footsteps across the room, she just assumed that the blonde was walking towards the door. However, she found that she was wrong as she felt the mattress sink down a little bit behind her.

Buffy hovered above her, one knee on the bed and one hand atop the comforter on the small of her back.

She leaned over so that she could watch Faith’s face as she whispered to the girl.

“Regardless of what you think, there is an ‘us’ to talk about. I love you, Faith. I meant it when I said it, and nothing’s gonna change that. I’m sorry if I hurt you. I was stupid. But please . . . don’t shut me out. Please.”

With her peace spoken, she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Faith’s cheek, letting her lips linger for a moment before pulling away. The brunette didn’t respond in any manner. She simply remained completely still and quiet.

Buffy gathered the rest of her things and silently made her way out of the room.

When Faith heard the door shut, she exhaled the breath that she had been holding. She inhaled shakily, her resolve coming undone a little at the memory of the blonde’s words and of the scent of her shampoo that still lingered on the pillow.

“I love ya too, B.” She mumbled, tasting the tears spill down her throat that she had been holding back. “Fuck.” She exclaimed, burying her face deep into the pillow.

The day had gone by fairly quick for Buffy. Before she knew it, her classes were over and she found herself staring blankly at the monitor in front of her at the computer lab.

She found that it was pointless to even try to do any kind of school work. Her mind was elsewhere. Wondering if Faith was still at the room; wondering if she had moved her stuff out; wondering where she would stay the night; wondering what the future held for them.

It took a lot of willpower to stay in the plastic computer chair, seeing as that her body was willing her to run back to her dorm as quick as her legs could take her and apologize to Faith. To make things better.

Over and over, she played the events of the previous night in her head. Feeling safe and warm in Faith’s arms. Shivering every time the brunette whispered ‘I love ya’ in her ear. Nestling further back into the brunette’s warm embrace and loving every minute of it. Looking up and seeing Parker walk in. Remembering how he held her similarly. Remembering how badly that situation had ended up. Starting to feel slightly claustrophobic as she recalled the events with him. Suddenly needing room to breathe. The hurt look on Faith’s face. Her own random babbling about what a jerk Parker was. Rejecting Faith’s offer of body contact but not being able to tell her why she couldn’t be held at that moment. Watching faith walk away with unshed tears in her eyes.

Buffy had stood there frozen after Faith had walked out. She wasn’t sure if the whole thing had actually happened or if her mind was playing some sort of sick game on her. Only when she heard Willow calling her name and felt Tara’s small hand on her shoulder did she realize how badly she had screwed up.

In the span of a few minutes, she had totally rejected Faith and let her walk away mad and hurt. Big mistake, especially seeing as that the brunette already had her own intimacy issues. With a ‘slap-in-the-face’ like she had received, the blonde knew that it was going to be hard to convince Faith that she was truly sorry.

Blinking back the tears in her eyes, Buffy grabbed her opened books from the desk and stuffed them arbitrarily into her backpack. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but sitting and staring at the computer screen was completely pointless.

Remembering that she told Faith she’d stay out of the room until after slaying that night, she decided that she’d just wander around campus for awhile and perhaps get something to eat. In all honesty, she wasn’t hungry. Her nervous stomach churned a little more angrily when she thought of food. But if she was slaying alone that night, she’d need all the energy she could muster.

Walking in a semi-daze out of the computer lab, Buffy didn’t hear her name being called until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find Willow standing behind her, a concerned look on her face.

“Hey, Buff. Are you alright?” The redhead asked, her hand still on Buffy’s shoulder.

“Yean. Fine. Great. Fantastic.” She answered with a fake smile. Upon seeing the look of doubt on Willow’s face, she continued. “I’m miserable. Thanks for asking.”

Willow frowned. “So, things are bad I take it.”

The two girls began walking slowly, no particular destination in mind.

“Well, they’re definitely not of the good.” Buffy answered.

“So, you got to talk to Faith then?”

Buffy chuckled, trying to hide the hurt she was feeling.

“I guess you can call it talking. She was bitter. I was repent-y.” She paused, looking down at the ground. “She’s leaving.”

Willow’s eyes grew wide.

“What do you mean ‘leaving’? Like, leaving school? ‘Cause that would be bad. She’s finally pulling her life together, and she’s doing good, and she has a job, and we all love her now, and . . .”

“Will!” Buffy cut the redhead’s babble short. “She’s not leaving school. She’s leaving me. Or, our room anyway. She came in this morning because she didn’t think I was there. I tried to apologize . . . but she’s really hurt. I think she was planning on leaving right then and there cuz she started packing some of her stuff in a duffle bag, but I convinced her to stay and sleep. Guess she’s gonna be gone by tonight.”

Willow remained silent, not quite knowing exactly what to say to comfort her friend. She had only gotten to know Faith better since they had started college, and in that short time, she got to know the brunette well enough to know that the she was likely more hurt than she had ever been. Having her love thrown back in her face the first time she decided to freely give it away must’ve stung the girl more than words could describe.

Buffy sighed and continued.

“I really fucked up this time, Will. If I would’ve known that I was going to lose my best friend . . . erghh . . . one of my best friends over this challenge, I never would’ve let it happen in the first place.”

“But do you regret it? What happened with Faith, I mean. Do you regret getting so close with her?”

A small smile graced Buffy’s face as she thought about her answer. She lifted her head and looked at Willow, pure honesty behind her eyes. “No. I don’t regret that part at all.” She softly began. “Behind closed doors, she’s sweet and kind and entertaining and endearing, and just completely amazing. Everything I’ve always wanted in a guy.”

She turned her head away from Willow and cocked it to the side a little, a pensive look on her face.

“Buff, here’s something for you to consider. If you lover her and she’s everything you want in a man . . . maybe she could be everything you want in a woman too. Just some food for thought.”

Silence filled the air between the two girls again as they continued their slow walk. After a few minutes, Willow watched as Buffy stopped walking and a look of realization came across her face.

“You’re right. She is what I want in a woman. In a man. In a lover. In anything. She’s what I want, point blank.” She glanced up at the redhead. “Willow, will you . . . can you help me fix this?”

The redhead gave her a huge grin.

“Of course, Buff. That’s what I’m here for. Maybe we should go back to your room and see if we can talk to her, I . . .”

“No!” Buffy interrupted. “I don’t want her to feel cornered or anything. Plus, I said I’d keep away. It’s probably best if I stick to what I said. Maybe I can just come to your room until I have to go slaying tonight?” She asked hopefully.

Willow nodded. “Good. Then maybe we can start working on a plan. OOH! I’ve got it! We can ask her to come with all of us to the Bronze tomorrow for Tara’s birthday. Even if she’s mad at you, she still loves Tara. She’d go just to make her happy.”

Buffy put on a big smile.

“That sounds like it just might work. We’ll have to let Tara in on the plan too.”

“Now’s as good a time as any.” Willow finished as she linked her arm with Buffy’s and they headed off towards her and Tara’s room.

“Thanks for lettin me crash here, Tare-bear. You’re a real sweetheart, yunno that? Red’s a lucky girl to have ya.” Faith said as she set up the spare bed for herself in Willow and Tara’s room.

Tara smiled. “You know you’re always welcome here Faith. You can stay here until you and Buffy work things out.” She said, trying to get Faith’s feelings on the matter.

Faith chuckled, trying not to let her bitterness come through. The last thing she wanted to do was upset the blonde witch when all the girl was trying to be a good friend.

“Yeah, about that. I don’t what’s gonna happen. I don’t handle rejection well, and I think it’s fair to say that last night was choc full of rejection-y goodness. Or badness. Whatever. I’m not gonna go crawlin back on my hands and knees, cuz it wasn’t me who screwed up this time.”

Tara sat down on her bed and watched Faith as the brunette tried to busy herself.

“Faith, Buffy screwed up. I think she knew that the minute you walked out of the bar last night. She went looking for you for hours, but you kept running from her. She even went so far as to have Willow block your bond so that you wouldn’t run away from her. All she wants to do is apologize and make things right. If you won’t even give her a chance to prove how sorry she is, then you can’t keep playing the ‘innocent’ card.”

Faith stopped what she was doing and sat down on the spare bed opposite of Tara. She played with her fingernails for a minute before finally glancing up to meet the witch’s eyes.

“T, I want you to close your eyes for a sec and imagine something.” She watched as Tara closed her eyes without hesitation and waited patiently.

“Okay, imagine this: you and Red finally get together after bein’ real close for a long time. You both love each other, and you’ve both told one another that. Your relationship is goin’ great, the sex is fuckin mind-blowin . . . everything seems like a dream. But there’s always this white elephant in the room between the two of ya. Either fear of people’s reactions to your relationship or the lingering ex or the threat of someone or something comin’ between the two of ya. Now, I want you to imagine that one of those things happen, and that Red turns her back on you. How do ya feel now?”

Tara opened her eyes and gave Faith a sympathetic smile before crossing the small distance and sitting next to the girl.

“Faith . . . I think you’re forgetting that something like that DID happen to Willow and I.” Faith gave her a questioning glance, so she continued. “Oz. Do you remember when Oz came back in town and tried to reclaim Willow?”

Faith’s eyes got wider when the memory hit her. Tara continued.

“Willow and I were so new at that point. I loved her and she loved me too. But suddenly, the one and only love of her life walks back into the picture and, understandably, she was a little confused. I had almost convinced myself that it was a losing battle for me. How could I compete with years of their love? But, you know what? I didn’t get too nervous.”

Faith chuckled. “Yeah, until wolf-boy was chasin’ ya across campus.”

Tara smiled at the brunette and covered her hand with her own.

“Yeah, that part made me a little uneasy. But I never truly doubted Willow for a minute, because I knew that deep down, she loved ME. She had let go of her past long before Oz ever came back. As expected, her past haunted her for a little bit with the appearance of an old ghost . . . but I had faith in her.”

Faith looked down at their joined hands and sighed.

“Yeah, but that’s the thing, Tare-bear. You and Red were working on the ‘love’ thing for a while. Me and B? It’s about 2 days old. Even worse: it’s part of a fuckin challenge. How am I supposed to know if what she’s feelin’ and what she’s sayin’ is real?”

Tara smiled gently.

“You’re not supposed to know it; you’re supposed to feel it. Faith, do you love Buffy?”

Faith didn’t hesitate to quietly respond, “Yeah . . . with all that I am. But, I don’t know if that’s enough for her.”

Tara pulled Faith closer to her and into a gentle embrace.

“Well, you need to let her decide that, and you need to have some faith in her. Just . . . give her a chance. What more harm could it do?”

Faith smiled deviously before standing up and twirling Tara around in a circle.

“You’re so SMART, Tare-bear. What would I do without you?” She joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Well, for starters, you’d probably look a little silly spinning by yourself.”

After a moment or two, Faith finally stopped spinning and let Tara down. They talked quietly for a few more minutes before they heard voices in the corridor and the sound of the door opening.

Buffy and Willow walked into the room arm-in-arm but froze instantly when the saw Faith standing there.

“Faith!” Willow shouted, startled. “I’m sorry, I forgot to reverse the spell from last night.”

Faith’s eyes remained locked with Buffy’s as she responded. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Red. It’ll wear off by tonight, right?”

Willow looked nervously between Faith and Buffy before answering.

“Umm, yeah. 24 hours.”

“No problem then.” Faith said as she finally tore her gaze from Buffy and started busying herself by her duffle bag again.

Buffy and Willow intently watched the brunette. Willow tore her eyes away to give Tara a questioning glance.

Tara, ever the peacekeeper, decided to get things moving.

“You’re just on time, Willow. We have Wicca group in 10 minutes. Are you ready to go?” She raised her eyebrows and stared intently at Willow, hoping to convince the girl to play along.

There was no Wicca group that day. In fact, they didn’t even belong to it anymore. Tara just wanted to give the two Slayers a chance to talk.

“Oh . . . right. Wicca group. We’d better go then.”

Tara walked towards the door and grabbed Willows hand on the way, exiting the room before either of the Slayers could protest.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Buffy finally decided to make an effort.

“Hi, Faith.”

“B.” Faith acknowledged.

“So, you’re staying here then?”

“Yep.”

“For how long?” Buffy asked, perching herself on Willow and Tara’s bed.

“’Til something better comes along.” Faith answered, instantly regretting how bitter the words seemed as they left her mouth. “Uhh, that’s not what I mean. I . . .”

“No, it’s okay Faith.” The blonde answered. “You’re upset. I get that, and I totally understand. But there’s something that I want you to understand too.”

Faith stopped what she was doing and tuned to Buffy, looking the girl in the eyes. Instantly, she felt her resolve melting away.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Buffy stood up and nervously approached Faith, looking for signs that the girl was going to run. Receiving none, she walked up so that she was only about a foot away from the girl. She tentatively took Faith’s hands in her own and ran her thumbs over the soft skin.

“I want you to understand that I’m sorry. Really and truly. That I love you. And that I’m not going to let you go without a fight. I can’t . . . no, I WON’T see my life without you.”

Faith stared into Buffy’s green eyes that were wet with unshed tears. She tried to take inhale deeply, but her breath hitched in her throat. Her emotions were overwhelming her.

“So, what do we do, B?” She asked with a shaky voice.

Buffy smiled.

“Well, we start off simple for now. You stay here tonight, and I’ll patrol alone.”

Faith felt her heart drop a little at Buffy’s response, but Buffy continued.

“And then tomorrow, I’d like you to be my date for Tara’s birthday party at the Bronze. We’re all going . . . my Mom, Xander and Anya, Giles . . .”

“Giles is gonna be there?” Faith interrupted. That was a big deal. If Buffy was comfortable with Giles finding out about their relationship, then she was obviously serious when she said that she wanted to be together.

“Yep. So . . . what do you think? Will you be my date?” She asked with a nervous smile, loving the fact that the brunette was actually letting her do this.

Faith tried not to smile, but the corners of her mouth cracked up into the teeniest of grins.

“You’ve got yourself a date.”

Buffy beamed at Faith’s response.

“You won’t be sorry. I promise. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 8:00.”

She let go of Faith’s hands and started to walk towards the door but stopped halfway across the room. Seeing as that Faith had been so understanding and willing to listen, she decided to push the envelope just a little further.

Hesitantly, she turned around and walked back towards Faith. She put her right hand on the brunette’s cheek before leaning up and placing a feather-light kiss on her lips.

She pulled back to stare into Faith’s deep brown eyes. After flashing a small and gentle smile, she pulled back all the way and walked to the door, stealing only one backward glance before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Faith couldn’t help but smile as she brought her fingers up to her lips and pressed gently against them like Buffy just had.

“I think I understand now, B.” She said quietly.

Chapter Fourteen – Day Nine: Friday

Wednesday night had come and gone very quickly for the group of friends. Faith stayed with Willow and Tara for the night, the three of them ending up staying in all night and watching movies.

As darkness approached, the Slayer in Faith was itching to come out and play, but she was determined to spend at least a little bit of time away from her sister-Slayer. Every part of her being was calling out for her to run to Buffy and kiss and hug and love her . . . but she figured that they could both use the time to do some thinking and reflecting.

She was, however, really looking forward to her date the next evening with Buffy. Not only would she be able to spend some time with her ‘girlfriend’, but she’d also be spending the same time with her family and friends. ‘Going public’ was a pretty big indication that Buffy was ready to accept their relationship as ‘real’, and move along with it.

And that very thought pretty much made Faith forget about why she was sitting at Willow and Tara’s in the first place.

As the three friends sat and watched the movies, Faith wore a smile the entire time.

She couldn’t wait for Thursday night to come fast enough.

Meanwhile, in a cemetery somewhere in Sunnydale, Buffy was busy pummeling a pair of newbie vamps while wearing Faith’s back-up leather jacket and a huge smile.

There was no planning or real thought in her well-executed moves . . . her body was running on auto-pilot, letting her Slayer take over. Her mind wasn’t in the fight . . . it was thinking of Faith and of the time they would soon get to spend together.

She was pretty sure that Faith had forgiven her already. If she hadn’t, it was certainly weird that the brunette let her hold her hands and give her a kiss, and had willingly agreed to be her date.

Things were looking up.

After easily finishing off the two vamps, she decided to end her patrol for the night and go back to her room to finish her homework.

The fact that she would spend another night alone in her room managed to make her a little bit sad. Since Faith had become her roommate, they had never spent more than a single night apart from one another. If she had anything to do about it, Buffy would never let it happen again.

DAY NINE – Friday

Though the original plans were to meet up on Thursday evening for Tara’s birthday, plans had to be rescheduled for Friday.

Just as Buffy was about to leave to pick up Faith, Giles had rang her and informed her that three groups of demons had arrived in Sunnydale for a type of demonic ‘Scavenger Hunt’. They had been wreaking havoc throughout town, and it seemed as if they were almost unstoppable in their scattered form.

However, with Buffy hunting one group, Faith hunting a second, and the rest of the Scoobies hunting the third, all of the interloping demons were eradicated in a timely manner. Still, after the heat of the battle, most of the gang just decided to call it quits and save the birthday bash at the Bronze for another evening.

Buffy stayed out to do a quick patrol, making sure that no other nasties were out prowling in the night.

Though she didn’t find any unsuspecting demons or vamps to slay, she did feel something else prowling in the night. The low hum running through her body let her know that Faith was patrolling as well. They hadn’t gotten close enough to actually run into one another, but both girls knew the other was out roaming in the night.

Instead of trying to seek Faith out, the blonde Slayer decided to give her a little space. Truth be told, every minute spent away from her sister-Slayer felt like an eternity . . . but then again, she didn’t want to make the girl feel suffocated and cause her to run.

Deciding that she didn’t want to spend another night alone in their room, she headed to her mother’s house to sleep there for the night.

She snuck into the house as she had a hundred times before, careful not to wake her mother as she crept up the stairs and into the bathroom.

She glanced into the bathroom mirror, studying her features intently before splashing some cool water on her face.

Something in her had changed. She didn’t look un-like herself. Her hair was the same, she hadn’t changed her make-up. But something was distinctly different. It was almost as if she was glowing . . . as if something had caused her to look warmer and more beautiful than ever.

There was no doubt about what the cause was.

It was Faith. Pure and simple.

Well, maybe not so pure. They had done some pretty un-pure things together.

But no one through her entire life, including Angel, had made her feel as happy and as complete as Faith had in the last few days. It was if they fit together perfectly; mind, body, and soul.

Closing her bedroom door behind her, Buffy grabbed the phone from her bedside table and sat on her bed. She smiled as she punched in Willow’s telephone number . . . she knew it was late, but she wanted to make sure Faith got home from patrol safely and say goodnight to her.

After two rings, she heard a husky voice on the other end.

“Someone better be dead” the voice rasped out. It was Faith, no doubt.

“That’s never a good thing to say in our profession, Faith.” Buffy said with a bit of happiness in her voice.

“B? What’s wrong? It’s like . . . way past ‘Buffy-Bedtime’? You okay?” Faith said without a hint of contempt or anger in her voice.

It made Buffy’s heart flutter. Not only was Faith sounding ‘okay’ . . . but she had shown her cuteness with the ‘Buffy-Bedtime’ phrase that she had coined earlier in the semester.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was pretty sure I sensed you when I was slaying tonight . . . wanted to make sure you got in okay and everything . . .” she trailed off waiting for Faith to respond in some way.

“I live to tell the tale.” Faith joked quietly, keeping her voice low enough as not to wake the witches across the room. “How bout you? Doin’ good?” The brunette asked, her accent coming on stronger than normal. She was in full-on ‘flirt-mode’ and hadn’t even realized it.

Buffy smiled at her sister-Slayer’s concern.

“I’m fine. Just . . . sitting here on my bed, looking around my old room and getting ready to sleep for the night.”

She could almost hear Faith’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, so she continued.

“I’m at my Mom’s house. No, nothing’s wrong. I just . . .” she sighed, “. . . I hated being in our room alone. It feels so empty after being there alone for two nights.”

She paused, waiting for Faith’s response yet again. A soft smile crept over her face as she twirled the phone cord in her fingers, listening to Faith’s even breaths on the other end of the line.

After a minute, Faith finally spoke.

“You want me to come back now?” The brunette asked quietly, sounding both shy and unsure.

Buffy chuckled into the phone. “Of course I want you to come back. And now would be great for me. I never wanted you to leave.” She paused, waiting for her comment to sink in a bit and considering Faith’s offer. “But it’s already late, and we’ve both got class in the morning . . . so, let’s compromise. Tomorrow? Tara’s re-party? You’ll be my date? And if things go good, and you feel comfortable and stuff . . . you can come back then. Deal?”

She held her breath waiting for Faith’s response.

After a moment, Faith quietly answered, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then, girlfriend’. Buffy couldn’t be sure . . . but with her enhanced hearing, she could almost swear she heard Faith smile.

With a happy look on her face, the blonde Slayer returned the telephone receiver to the base and turned off her bedside lamp. She lay back down on her bed and pulled her extra pillow against her body, hugging it tightly as she fell asleep, thinking of Faith the entire time.

Faith was getting ready in Willow and Tara’s bathroom when she started to feel the all-too-familiar warm buzz through her body. She smiled in anticipation as she quickly finished applying her Mac charcoal eyeliner and a fresh coat of lipcolor.

Hurriedly, she rushed out of the bathroom and squeezed into her tightest pair of chocolate-brown leathers, staring at the entrance door and expecting to see Buffy pop through at any minute.

The day had come and gone so quickly for her. After sleeping until 9:00 am, she sat through her morning classes before heading off to work for the afternoon. As she had crossed campus, she had run into Buffy who was running late for her Psychology Class.

They had stopped and said ‘hello’ to one another quickly, eyes glued to one another the entire time.

Both girls were feeling nervous and semi-awkward during the minute-long encounter, but above all, they were feeling more drawn to one another than they had ever been before.

As Faith casually said goodbye, hoping to shield the immense need burning behind her eyes, she was surprised to suddenly feel the body of her sister-Slayer pressed against her.

“So, tonight then?” Buffy said quietly against her ear, intertwining their fingers as their hands rested limply along their sides.

“Yeah, tonight.” Faith rasped, deeply inhaling as if to imprint the scent of Buffy’s hair in her memories.

Buffy squeezed the brunette’s hands slightly before letting go and backing away slowly. Their eyes remained locked onto one another’s as they both backed away almost unwillingly, Faith finally being the first to turn as she felt her back brush up against some type of obstruction.

She shook her head to stir herself from her flashback. She heard a soft knock on the door almost immediately after she had snapped out of her daydream and quickly rushed to the door.

The younger Slayer opened the oversized door to find Buffy standing on the other side, looking quite the part of the shy schoolgirl. Her head was tipped slightly down and she was doing that thing where she was staring up into Faith’s eyes through her long, soft eyelashes.

“Hey.” Faith said, finally finding her voice. “Right on time. Wanna come in?” She said with a small smile, stepping back from the door to allow Buffy room to walk in.

“Hey . . . umm . . . well, are you ready? Cos if you are, we can just go . . . but if you’re not, I can always come in, you know . . . I . . .” The blonde’s words trailed off as Faith slowly stepped towards her. She completely stopped speaking as she felt the brunette’s hands cup her face and run small circles along her cheeks.

“Shhhh.” Faith whispered, a friendly smile on her lips. She stared into Buffy’s eyes as she spoke. “You don’t have to be nervous, B. I’ve had some time to think about it. I even got to talk to Red about it a little, and she made me look at it from your point of view.”

It was all true. Willow had sat down and had a heart-to-heart with Faith the previous night before Giles’ call with the demon news. Willow had pretty much told Faith everything that Buffy had told to her during their walk . . . just not in so many words.

Buffy had a bad track record with relationships. During the one relationship that was going seemingly well for her, a big ugly reminder of one of the past failures showed up right in her face. It had made her nervous and anxious and all things uncomfortable. The way the blonde had acted was not the best response she could have had . . . but Willow tried to make Faith understand why it had nothing to do with her.

It was about Buffy accepting that her past had no effect on her future. It was about her acknowledging that she did, in fact, want a future with Faith. It was about coming to terms with a lot of different things in general.

After the chat, Faith decided that she couldn’t be mad at Buffy anymore. Not for what had happened at the Bronze. It was the 9th day of the challenge, and she was pretty sure that they were both smitten with one another. Both in love. Madly, even. She wasn’t going to let her fears of commitment and abandonment drive her away from something this good.

She continued to speak softly, still stroking Buffy’s face.

“I’m not mad anymore. I just wanna move on, ‘kay? No need to dwell on the past and keep bringin’ up the bad shit, right?”

Buffy simply nodded her head as she stared back into Faith’s eyes, seemingly paralyzed from doing much of anything else.

Only when she felt Faith’s lips slowly caress hers was she finally able to close her eyes and let her body respond. She brought her hands up and wrapped them around Faith’s back, pulling her closer so that their bodies were in complete contact.

Their lips moved softly and slowly together, keeping the kiss simple and chaste as they became reacquainted with one another. When they finally managed to pull their lips away from one another, Buffy leaned her head forward and rested it on Faith’s shoulder.

“I missed you so much.” She whispered into Faith’s ear, just loud enough for the other Slayer to her it.

“God, I missed ya too, Buffy.” Faith sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around the smaller girl.

They stood there for a few minutes, eyes closed as they swayed softly in one another’s embrace. Finally, Faith ran her hands up and down Buffy’s arms, indicating to the girl that they needed to get things going.

“Not to go all ‘mood killer’ on ya, but we got a party to get to. After how sweet T has been to me the last few days, there ain’t no way I’m gonna miss her party.” She said with a smile.

“Not even forrrrrr . . . Buffy paused, looking up to make it look like she was thinking hard, “. . . hot sex with a hot blonde?” The older Slayer said with a wicked grin.

Faith put on as serious a look as she could before saying, “Well, I don’t know about you, B, but I think that Red would be mad if I missed the party cuz I was gettin’ all hot and sweaty with her girlfriend.”

Buffy started to pout until she saw Faith break out in a fit of laughter.

“Oh, that face was PRICELESS, B! Ya looked like you were gonna go all homicidal for a minute there!” Faith laughed, reaching in the room and grabbing a small gift bag before closing the door behind her and leading Buffy away.

Buffy was still pouting as she let Faith lead her down the hall by her hand.

“For your information, I’M the only hot blonde for you! I may not ‘go all homicidal’, but I will kick your cute ass if you plan on hitting on Tara or any other blondes in front of me.” She said with a wicked little grin.

Faith just laughed. She knew Buffy had nothing to worry about, because there really WAS no other blonde for her.

“Aww, thanks Mr. Giles. I can always use more crystals.” Tara said with a smile as she pulled several colored crystals out of a decorative pouch.

Giles nodded and smiled, feeling semi-out-of-place with the group of friends at the Bronze. Luckily, Joyce was there, taking some of the attention off of him as one of the only adults in the club.

However, he made sure to keep a safe distance from her and tried not to be overly friendly . . . anytime he had made an attempt to be cordial in the past, Buffy had given him a death glare and reminded him of the band candy incident.

Remembering the ordeal, he took a large gulp from his plastic beverage cup and moved his eyes all around the club, trying to avoid the eyes of any of the Scoobies as a guilty look crept up on his face.

Buffy and Faith had, for the most part, tried to keep their hands from each other until they could find the appropriate time to break the news to Giles. Pretty much everyone could already figure out that the girls had made up, and were now wondering why the two of them were keeping distance between them.

Tara had put the crystals back into their pouch and moved on to her next present, the gift bag from Faith. As she removed the tissue paper and went to pull the contents out of the bag, Faith quickly jumped in and placed her hand on Tara’s arm, stopping her action.

“You might wanna open that one at home.” Faith said with a smirk.

Tara furrowed her eyebrows before glancing into the bag and letting her mouth open in shock, right away seeing the box from Fredericks of Hollywood enclosed within.

“Oh, Faith, I-I . . .” Tara stuttered, blushing furiously as she pulled the bag to her chest and clenched it shut, “. . . umm, thanks.” She said shyly, making sure to give the brunette a smile and a wink as she shoved the bag under her chair.

“No problem.” Faith responded proudly, sitting back in her chair and taking a drink from her plastic cup.

“I wonder what that was about.” Giles said aloud. Only Buffy, who was sitting right next to him, heard his words.

She smiled as she continued to watch the scene in front of her.

“Oh, Faith probably got her some lingerie or something sexual.” Buffy said flatly, keeping her eyes on Faith. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Oh, speaking of ‘something sexual’, Faith is my girlfriend now. Okay?”

She kept her eyes forward, even as Giles sputtered out into the plastic cup he was trying to drink from.

“I beg your pardon?” Giles asked with a confused look.

Buffy watched as her mother walked over to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Joyce gave her daughter a little nod, encouraging her to continue.

She knew that this was the last step her daughter needed to take to be happy . . . and there was nothing more that she wanted for her only daughter.

Encouraged, Buffy turned towards Giles and spoke the words again.

“Faith is my girlfriend.” She said loudly, getting the attention of all of her friends. Surprised by the volume of her own voice, she cleared her throat and tried yet again. “Faith . . . she’s my girlfriend. It’s new . . . but I love her, and there’s nothing I’m more sure of right now. I’m not asking for your approval, because I’m going to be with her regardless. But, I wanted you to know. I’m not gonna hide my relationship with her. So . . .” she paused, “. . . are you okay with this?”

Faith had stood up halfway through Buffy’s little speech and now stood in front of the girl, loosely holding her hand as the both glanced at their Watcher.

Giles looked at the others in the group as if trying to gauge their reactions.

Finally, he returned his eyes back to the Slayers and with an air of nonchalance, he said, “As long as you’re happy, I approve. And as long as you’re able to do your job and keep up with your schoolwork, I see no problem with it.”

Buffy let go of Faith’s hand long enough to walk to Giles and give him a hug.

“Thank you.” She whispered into his ear.

He hugged her back for a moment before clearing his throat and shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

“So, yes. Erm, best not to tell the Council, I think. They’d want to run tests and experiments, and, well . . .” he smiled mischievously as he took off his glasses and polished them with his shirt, “. . . I’m sure you’ve got enough experimentation on your hands at the moment.”

“Giles!” Willow gasped, her eyes almost popping out of her head as a huge smile crossed her face.

“On that note,” Giles began, getting up crossing the room and giving Tara a friendly hug, “I must be on my way. Happy Birthday, Tara. Buffy, Faith . . .” he turned back and looked back at the two slayers who were happily wrapped up in a hug, “. . . why don’t we hold off on training until Monday.” The two girls smiled at him, loving the fact that they now had a free weekend. “Have a lovely evening, everyone.”

And with that, Giles left the Bronze with a small smile on his face.

“That’s my cue to leave.” Joyce responded. “I’m now the oldest person in here. It’s a thought I can’t tolerate for long. Tara, happy birthday, sweetie.” She smiled at the shy witch before turning towards Buffy and Faith. “As for you two . . . I’m happy you got over your little spat. I haven’t seen two people so happy in quite some time.” She paused, considering her words. “Try and hold on to that. I’ll see the both of you on Sunday? Dinner and some pity-the mother time? And hopefully, a little less of what happened in the basement last Sunday?” She asked with a grin.

“You got it, Mrs. S. See you Sunday.” Faith said cheerfully as she wrapped her arms around Buffy from behind, wearing a 1000 watt smile as she did so.

As Joyce left, Buffy settled back more comfortably into Faith’s arms, enjoying the feeling of the brunette’s soft fingers that had slid just under her top and were now tracing soft patterns on her stomach.

“I missed this.” Buffy said as she leaned her head back onto Faith’s shoulder and turned her head sideways, capturing the brunette’s lips in a quick kiss. “I didn’t realize how much I liked going out places and just spending time with you until you weren’t there.” She said somewhat sadly.

Faith leaned her head down and rested her lips on Buffy’s exposed shoulder, moving her lips softly on the warm skin.

“Me too.” Faith murmured into her shoulder. “But, I gotta ask ya something, B.” She said, lifting her head and looking around the room.

Buffy followed suit, lifting her eyes and looking at the many people that had crowded into the club.

She noticed that there were several people looking at them. One or two wore looks of contempt, a few had pure lust in their eyes, and other just seemed interested in the two attractive girls who suddenly couldn’t seem to keep their hands off of one another.

“Is stuff like this gonna bother ya?” Faith asked softly, still stroking Buffy’s stomach. “People watchin’ us, I mean. It’s not somethin’ that’s gonna be ignored anytime soon. I mean, we’re two hot chicks that like to grope each other. People are gonna watch, and some might even say stupid shit about it. Can ya handle it?”

Buffy didn’t answer.

Instead, she turned in Faith’s arms and stood up on her tippy-toes, capturing the girls’ lips in a heated kiss. It wasn’t like the one they had shared earlier. It was hot and full of passion and everything that they had been holding back for the past 2 days.

Their tongues slid against one another, not fighting for dominance but simply touching, tasting, and reacquainting. Buffy nipped at Faith’s lips, capturing the lower one in her mouth and sucking on it roughly before letting it release with a little wet plop.

“Does that answer your question.” Buffy asked breathlessly, pushing her forehead against Faith’s as they kept their eyes closed.

“Yeah, I guess it does.” Faith laughed.

“Good, then let’s say goodbye to Tara so I can take you home and make love to you all night.” The blonde said, opening her eyes to find two deep brown pools staring back at her. She furrowed her eyebrows, instantly wondering why Faith was giving her a questioning glance.

“What?” She asked, lifting her hand up and running it across Faith’s bottom lip.

Faith smiled softly, hesitating for a moment before she spoke.

“It’s past midnight, B. It’s Saturday . . . day 10. Are ya sure about this? I’m kinda crude, and messy; I burp out loud, I like to scratch in the morning for prolonged periods of time, and I could definitely use a few lessons in manners. So . . . are ya sure ya still want me?” She asked, looking down into Buffy’s eyes with a timid smile on her face, trying to hide her sudden nervousness.

“Yes . . . I still want you, Faith.” The older girl answered quietly.

“For how long?” The brunette whispered, her face only inches away from Buffy’s.

Buffy put on a big smile, stroking Faith’s lips as she closed the rest of the distance between them.

“Forever.”

Chapter Fifteen – Slayers in Love

Three Months Later . . .

“Oh god, Faith . . . harder baby.” Buffy moaned out into the otherwise quiet room, her head tossing back and forth on her pillow.

Faith was hovering just above her, one hand holding her up on the bed, and the other placed firmly on Buffy’s hip.

She smirked when she heard Buffy’s request and happily obliged, thrusting herself harder into the blonde. Their slick pussies slid against one another easily, clit bumping into swollen clit as Faith ground herself harder against the older girl.

“Yeah, just like that,” Buffy groaned, “keep going baby, I’m so close.”

She managed to unclench her hands from their death-grip on the sheets and slid them around Faith, scratching her nails down the tanned skin of her back until they rested on her hips.

“Fuck, B, you’re so fuckin wet. I can hear the nasty little noises your pussy is making. Do you like it when I fuck you with my pussy? When I slide my clit against yours and grind against ya ‘til ya come?” Faith said as she looked down at Buffy, wetting her own lips as she watched every grimace of pleasure that the blonde made.

Buffy groaned again.

But this time, it wasn’t the same kind of groan she used to make months ago to get Faith to stop speaking so crudely. It was the kinda of groan that she had learned to use rather to encourage the brunette.

Faith smiled, yet again encouraged by Buffy’s groans and words. She leaned down closer to the blonde’s ear and began to talk softly, teasingly, their breasts pressing against each other’s.

“You feel so good against me, B. I love rubbin my pussy against yours almost as much as I like suckin on your hard little clit. I’m gonna keep pushing against you, harder, faster, ‘til we come against each other, and then I’m gonna slide down you body and lick and suck you ‘til ya come in my mouth again.”

Buffy couldn’t react in any other way than to grip her hands tighter on Faith’s moving hips, pulling the girl down harder as she arched her own back and pressed up into her just as hard.

The two girls panted heavily as they came against one another, Faith collapsing her body on top of Buffy’s as she slowed her movements to a barely visible sway.

Almost instantly, they sought out one another’s lips, kissing and nipping softly as they rode out their orgasms. Faith flicked her tongue across Buffy’s top lip before kissing the corners of her mouth, to her jaw, down her neck, slowly kissing her way down the blonde’s lithe body.

She paused at the blonde’s hardened nipples, achingly taking one after the other in her mouth and sucking lightly before gently grazing her teeth across them.

On instinct, Buffy arched her back up, trying to push more of her into Faith’s warm mouth.

Faith, however, had other ideas in mind.

She smirked as she pulled herself from Buffy’s breasts, dragging her lips down the blonde’s tight stomach. She placed several wet kisses around Buffy’s navel, dipping her tongue in it a few times, alluding as to what was to come.

“Buffy.” She whispered between kisses, continuing her downwards descent. “I love you . . . you’re my girl . . . forever.” She breathed as she placed her hands on the older girls’ thighs, pushing them further apart to make more room for her body.

She glanced up only for a moment, meeting a pair of deep green eyes across the way. Buffy smiled at her gently, mouthing the word ‘forever’ as she reached her arm down to cup Faith’s cheek. Faith smiled back, leaning into the blonde’s touch before turning her head and kissing the inside of her palm.

She turned her gaze into the green eyes only for a moment more before waggling her eyebrows, giving her trademark grin, and burying her face in Buffy’s already wet pussy.

Buffy hissed at first contact, Faith’s tongue almost too much on her already oversensitive clit.

She had become used to the feel of Faith’s tongue in the few months that they had been together since the challenge. The way Faith would sneak it into her mouth when they kissed; the way it felt as the brunette marked her neck with kisses; the way it dipped into her bellybutton any time that Faith was feeling frisky; the way that it was currently swirling expertly around her clit.

“Baby . . . Faith . . . so good . . .” she moaned out, wondering somewhere in the back of her mind when she lost her ability to speak more than random babbles.

Faith stopped her momentary attack on Buffy’s swollen clit just enough to slide her tongue down her wet folds, lapping most of her juices into her mouth.

The blonde’s hips bucked forward as Faith’s tongue teased at her dripping entrance and then stiffened up, thrusting into her in a few short bursts.

The brunette slayer removed her tongue, grinning as Buffy groaned out in frustration. Using her right hand, she ran her fingers over the older girls’ heated centre, collecting up the rest of the moisture that remained. Slowly, the slid two fingers into Buffy’s wet pussy, giving her a few kisses on her inner thigh as she did so.

As she felt the blonde start to rock against her hand, she lowered her mouth to her clit again and began to suck on it, pushing her lips hard against the other girl.

“Faith, I’m gonna come again.” Buffy gasped, the feel of Faith’s mouth on her clit almost too much.

Faith, anxious to have Buffy coming in her mouth, sped up her fingers as she curled them gently, rubbing against the blonde’s g-spot every time she thrusted deep inside of her. She began to flick the tip of her tongue against Buffy’s clit as she sucked on it, bringing the girl to another earth-shattering orgasm.

Buffy’s hand had worked its way into Faith messy locks, holding her against her pussy as she came in her mouth.

As her breathing began to return to normal, Faith reluctantly let go of Buffy’s clit and gave it a quick kiss before sliding back up the blonde’s body. Grinning, she lifted herself so that she was laying half on top of her, their legs tangled together and her arms wrapped around the older girls’ torso.

After a few minutes of silence, Buffy finally breathed out, “Well . . . I guess that means the Guest Room is christened.”

“Yep. Faith said, her voice sleepy and her eyelids closing half-way. “That only leaves the laundry room . . . the kitchen . . . the living room . . . our bedroom . . . the bathroom . . . the hallway . . . the back porch . . .”

“I think I get the picture.” Buffy interrupted, laughing. “Lots more sex to be had. Check. ‘Operation: Christen the New Apartment’ shall commence after a brief nap.”

“Hey. I’m ready to go again . . . you just tell me when and where, blondie.” Faith replied, worn out, still unmoving from her position.

Buffy smiled even bigger, bringing her lips down to the brunette’s forehead and letting them linger there.

“No worries. We have all the time in the world.” She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes and falling asleep in Faith’s arms.

“Well, if it isn’t the love bugs come here to grace us with their presence.” Xander beamed as Buffy and Faith entered the Bronze and approached the group at the table. “So, life in the new apartment. How goes the christening ceremonies?” He joked as Buffy sat down next to him and Faith perched herself on the arm of his chair.

“Half-way there, Xan-man. Cross the Guest Room and the back porch off the list, buddy.” Faith smirked as she gave him a high-five.

“I just hope you’ll change the sheets on the bed before asking any of us to spend the night.” Willow said as she laughed softly with Tara. Faith just winked at her in response.

“Sooooo . . . back porch . . . Faith, my friend, how’d you manage that one.” Xander asked mischievously, earning him a smack on the chest from Buffy and a smack on the back of his head from Anya. “Whaaaat?” He asked.

“Well, let’s just put it this way,” Faith began, “. . . when your girl bends over to pick up your steel-toed boots in her teeny-tiny little robe . . . things just kinda . . . happen.” She said innocently as she waggled her eyebrows at her girlfriend.

“Kinda, schminda.” Buffy laughed. “You had that all planned out from the get-go. I’m fairly certain that you left your clodhoppers right in the middle of the porch so I’d have to bend over to get them.”

Faith just smirked in response, shrugging her shoulders and trying her best to feign innocence.

“Baby,” Tara jokingly whispered to Willow but loudly for everyone enough to hear, “when we go to visit, you’re not allowed to wear shoes of any sort.”

The entire group laughed at the comment and Xander excused himself to go get some drinks . . . but the uncomfortable way in which he was walking pretty much gave away why he had to leave for a while.

“It’s all of us hot-chicks with super powers.” Faith stated nonchalantly. “We’re too much for Xan to handle.”

A few minutes thereafter, Xander returned to the group with an armful of drinks. The friends sat and laughed and enjoyed their night together, relishing what they could of their new-found closeness before they got swept into the chaos of another school year.

With Buffy and Faith having just moved into an apartment together, Willow and Tara still living in the same dorm together, and Xander and Anya apartment-hunting, it was pretty much assured that not a single one of them would ever spend much time alone. Still, time like this was special, because they were all finally finding some happiness and order in their lives.

There was one thing that Faith was sure of during this time. It was that she was happier than she had ever been in her life, and that the reason for it was sitting before her in the form of a blonde girl with the most amazing green eyes she had ever seen.

They had taken a chance with the whole ‘challenge’ a few months prior, and luckily, they had both won out. She had never expected that Buffy would actually fall for her; she was pretty sure that when she had flaunted her so-called ability to make people ‘do things they normally wouldn’t’, she was talking out of her ass. Still, she had surprised herself with how deeply she and her sister-Slayer had fallen during that time.

‘Love’s a funny thing’ Buffy had told her. ‘You go about looking for it for so long that when it finally lands right in front of you, you have change your perspective a bit in order to see it’.

And perspective was exactly what Faith was dealing with at the moment.

She looked at her life as it was and noticed that it was pretty much full of Buffy. Home, school, slaying . . . the blonde Slayer was a constant in her current life. When she looked to the future, it was all uncertain, except for one thing: she saw Buffy with her, though every limitless possibility. If there was one thing she wanted, it was to ensure that she could keep Buffy planted firmly in her life; in her future.

A knowing smile crossed her lips as she thought that perhaps just one more challenge was in order . . .

“Mom? We’re here!” Buffy shouted out into the front hall as she and Faith came walking into the house.

“I’m just finishing up dinner, girls!” Joyce shouted from the kitchen. “Make yourselves at home!”

Buffy took off her jacket and opened the closet door, about to hang it up when she felt a pair of arms encircle around her from behind.

Faith started kissing the side of her neck and pressing into her back, rubbing her hands along Buffy’s stomach.

“What are you doing, you nut?” Buffy giggled, trying to pry Faith’s arms from her midsection.

“Making myself at home.” Faith mumbled into her neck.

The blonde slayer laughed, still trying to squirm out of Faith’s grip.

“Hey, behave. I don’t think she meant ‘have your nasty way with my daughter in the front hall while you’re here’. Besides, your ‘horns’ are digging into my neck, you little devil.”

Faith finally relented, dropping her arms to her sides and resting her chin on Buffy’s shoulder.

“No fair, B. I can’t help it, especially when you walk around all irresistible-like. You’re like visual-Viagra right now.” She said with a hint of a whine in her husky voice.

Buffy laughed as turned and faced Faith, raising her eyebrows. “Irresistible? Faith, I was hanging up my jacket, not putting on a strip-tease.”

Faith smirked, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. “Hey, you say potato, I say poTATo.”

“Did I hear something about potatoes?” Joyce said innocently as she walked into the room, giving both of the girls a quick hug.

“Yeah, I like Buffy’s potatoes.” Faith said with a smirk, winking at her girlfriend as Joyce’s back was towards her.

Joyce let go of Buffy and started walking towards the kitchen again. “I’m sure that’s a vague sexual reference to my daughter that I’m going to conveniently overlook.” She said over her shoulder, a sly smile on her face.

Buffy smacked Faith’s arm, trying her best to look perturbed but letting her smile win out.

“Gimme your jacket, I’ll hang it up for you.” Buffy said, holding her hand out for Faith’s leather jacket.

Faith almost looked panicked for a moment before a she was able to put on her usual calm and cool exterior.

“Yunno what? I’ll take care of it. You go help your Ma, I’ll hang this up, and then I’m gonna run to the bathroom and wash up real quick.”

Buffy just smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss before walking off into the kitchen. Faith watched her as the blonde walked away, nervously grasping at her jacket as she did so. She anxiously made sure that she felt the outline of the small box in the inner pocket of the jacket before hanging it carefully in the back of the closet.

With the jacket and the mysterious small box tucked safely away, she smiled and made her way to the kitchen.

“I’m stuffed.” Buffy groaned as she plopped down on the couch in the living room, the sound of her mother finishing the last few dishes in the background.

“I’m not. In fact, I was thinkin we could go out for some ice cream or somethin.” Faith responded, jumping around nervously a bit in front of the couch.

“Ughh. You’re never full. You’re like a bottomless pit.” The blonde joked.

Faith chuckled nervously, a sound that wasn’t all that common. Buffy immediately perked up to it and sat forward, taking Faith’s hand in her own.

“What’s wrong, baby? You seem nervous.” She asked, a concerned look on her face.

Faith tried to cover. “Nahh, not nervous. I just . . . well, I have a surprise for you. But we gotta go now if we’re gonna make it in time.”

Buffy smiled softly and stood up, her hand still around Faith’s. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Mrs. S? We’re headed out!” Faith called out as she and Buffy made their way to the front closet, putting on their jackets.

“Okay! Goodnight girls! Oh, and Faith . . . that stuff you asked for is by the stairs!” Joyce called out from the kitchen.

“Thanks!” Faith answered, quickly grabbing a seemingly recognizable duffle bag. “Let’s motorvate, B.” She ignored the amused look on Buffy’s face and opened the front door, waiting for Buffy to step out.

The two Slayers walked hand in hand through the woods to a familiar hill in a familiar patch of woods.

When they reached the top of the hill, Faith gave Buffy a quick kiss on the lips before putting the duffle bag on the ground and pulling a blanket from it, laying it down on the ground.

“Why, Faith my love, are you gettin’ all romantical on me?” Buffy said with a funny little accent, an amused look on her face.

“Maybe.” Faith responded coyly, taking a bottle of wine and two glasses out of the bag next. “Just kinda feelin nostalgic . . . and this place brings back lotsa good memories.” She said softly, finally sitting down and making a spot for Buffy between her legs.

“Yeah, it does.” Buffy answered back just as softly before sitting down and settling back into Faith’s embrace. “I guess we’ll just have to do without the eclipse this time around.”

“Or maybe we won’t.” Faith said with a smile, pointing up to the magnificent sight in the sky above the; another eclipse.

“Whoa.” Buffy said nervously. “I don’t think that’s possible. Two eclipses so close together, I mean. This feels like something Hellmouth-y to me.”

“Nahh. Nothin to worry ‘bout, B. I just called in a little favor to a friend of mine.” Faith replied. When Buffy turned her heads toward her, eyebrow raised, she decided to elaborate. “Okay, fine. I wanted to re-create the moment. It’s a glamour . . . Tara did it for me. I just . . . I wanted tonight to be kinda perfect. Memorable.”

Buffy turned completely in her arms, wrapping both her legs and arms around the girl.

“Baby . . . something’s definitely up.” She said, concerned. “You sure you’re okay?”

Faith smiled, exhaling her breath and relaxing a bit as she gazed into Buffy’s eyes.

“Yeah, I am. See, that’s the thing. I’m completely fuckin okay. Happy. Perfectly, even. These last few months with you have been . . . well, they’ve been the best fuckin three months of my life. Every single moment that I look back upon . . . you’re in it. I’m totally swamped with thoughts of you, and how happy ya make me.”

Buffy smiled, arching her eyebrow. “That’s a good thing, right?” She joked.

“Yeah, it is. Point is, Buffy, You’ve been such a big part of my life, of ME, these last few months. Even more so, these last two years. I love having you with me and honestly, when I think of my future . . . I can’t see any part of it without you in it.”

She hesitated for a moment before nervously reaching into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulling out a small white box.

A jewelry box.

More specifically, a ring box.

Buffy’s eyes widened at the sight, so Faith quickly tried to explain.

“Chill, B. It’s not what you think.” She flicked the small box open to reveal a solid platinum band with two gemstones embedded in it. “They’re my birthstone and your birthstone. Real deal too, not the gumball-machine crap.”

Buffy smiled at her cute explanation. She remained silent as Faith continued.

“So, here’s what I’m thinkin: I kinda want you to be around. Forever. With me. And . . . fuck, I don’t know if I’m marriage material, and I don’t even know if that kinda shit is legal here. Besides, we’re too young for all of that now. This is . . . a promise. That I wanna be with you . . . that I’m yours and you’re mine . . . and that if we wanna be something ‘more’, we can be. Fuck . . . I love you so much, Buffy. This kinda stuff isn’t easy for me. I’m supposed to be badass and crass . . . not love-y and soppy. But I can’t help it with you. You just, well, you make me wanna be a better person. And I think I am, cuz of you.”

Buffy’s smile grew 10 times in size. “Faith, I – I . . .” She stammered, tears of happiness in her eyes.

“Think of it as a challenge, B.” Faith interrupted. “A friendly challenge between two slayers. What, with my super persuasion powers and all . . . I’m gonna try to keep you in

love with me for as long as you’ll have me. And you, well . . .” she held up the box, “. . . all you have to do is accept the challenge.”

Buffy let a chuckle-sob escape her throat before leaning her head down and pressing her forehead against the brunette’s. She pushed forward a bit more, brushing her lips softly against Faith’s as she blindly dipped her fingers into the white box, pulling the ring out with her fingertips.

She pulled back just enough to slip the ring on the ring-finger of her right hand, admiring the way it looked before laying her head in the crook of Faith’s neck and wrapping her arms around the girl. Closing her eyes, she sighed contentedly.

“It’s a perfect fit.” She said smiling.

Faith grinned, wrapping her arms around Buffy in return.

“Yeah, it really is.”