FAITH'S P.O.V
"What're we doing?" I ask, throwing Mr Gordo up in the air and catching him again.
We've just been lying on her bed for the past hour, making small talk. Well, actually, I've been lying on her bed for the past hour making small talk. Buffy's been jumping up and down, running to the window, telling me to shut up... y'know... the usual stuff. But now I'm getting kind of bored.
"Waiting," Buffy says, standing and walking over to the window. Again.
"Waiting?"
"Yeah, be quiet, I'm trying to think."
Not sure what there is to think about, but it sounds boring too. "Okay, well, wake me up when it happens." I roll over on my side, and Buffy immediately jumps onto the bed.
I knew that would get her attention. She's so easy.
"No! Faith, you can't go to sleep." She shakes me. "You have to wait too."
"So let me get this straight. You want me to sit here... not talking... 'waiting' if you want to be specific, for fuck knows what, and just be happy about the whole thing?"
"Yeah, pretty much." She nods.
"Care to enlighten me then?"
"No. Now shut up."
I slump back on the bed.
"I know a way to pass the time." I say after a few seconds of 'silence'. Not really silence 'cause I was humming at the time.
It annoys her; I know about these things.
"No, you keep your pants on, Faith." She walks back over to the window.
Well, I was planning on doing just that. But now that I think about it, that's a really good idea. Maybe one day when she's not expecting it.
"They are on, see?" I thrust my hips up in the air when she looks over. "That's not what I meant, anyway. I was thinking that we could play a game."
"No..." She pauses for a moment, still staring out of the window. "What kind of game?"
Hell yeah.
"Well-" Crap. What kind of game? I didn't really think this far ahead. "It's a wicked game, B. But you gotta be over here for it to work."
I don't understand why she listens to me. Even after all these months, she never REALLY learns her lesson. I mean, yeah okay, she's a little wary. But she's still doin' it. Crazy shit.
"Here?" She comes to a stop by the bed.
"A little to the left." I motion her with my hand.
"Now what?" she asks.
That's a pretty fucking good question 'cause I'm tapped.
"Now... I need your hand." Might as well run with it, right?
"What? What for?" She hides it behind her back. "I'm kind of using it right now. Check back later."
"Come on, B. You wanna play or not?"
"Right now, I'm thinking not." She says, doing it anyway.
Slowly, she reaches her arm out toward me, palm facing up. She leans back a bit.
Cringing already and I didn't even do anything yet.
I take her hand with a grin. Sitting up slightly, I stick my tongue out and lick her palm slowly and deliberately. Then I let go.
Buffy stares down at her hand in shock. "I can't believe you just did that!"
Me either.
"Faith... I..." She continues staring at her outstretched palm. "That's disgusting. I can't even believe... There's something wrong with you, seriously."
Probably.
"Probably," I agree.
"Buffy?" Someone knocks quietly. I sigh when I realize who the owner of the voice is.
Buffy freezes, while I look over at the closed door.
She's still got her hand stretched out in front of her.
"Willow?" I turn back to B with a raised eyebrow. "You made me wait here for Willow? I was being all quiet and everything, too."
Buffy pauses for a moment and then looks down at her hand. When she finally looks back up at me again, there's a slight smile on her face.
She jumps onto my lap, making me grunt loudly. I think I just lost all of the air in my lungs. And if I didn't then, I do when she straddles my waist. "Just give me two seconds, Will." She calls out.
"Jesus, B. Lose some pou..." With a sly smile Buffy Summers pulls off her shirt, until all that's left is a black bra and a whole lotta skin. "...ounds." I finish weakly, staring at her chest. Her chest which is inches from my face. Her chest which is inches from my face and covered only by a flimsy piece of material. "Whoa."
"Buffy?" Willow says again.
"What the fuck?" I somehow manage.
"Oh, shut up, Faith." She shoots me an annoyed glance. "They're only breasts."
"Uh... okay."
Whatever.
She puts her hands in her hair and starts messing it up... A lot. And while she's doing it she's squirming and wriggling, and basically just moving around a whole bunch, until I can't even think straight. I may or may not have, somehow, made my way onto a porn set. Some kind of strange vowel sound makes its way out of my mouth... then a slight whimper.
Eventually she stops moving, dropping her hands to her sides. I barely start breathing again. "Okay, what do you think?"
What do I think?
I think that all those late nights finally caught up to me. I think that I'm probably suffering a concussion from when she nearly broke my ribs. I'm damaged now. She finally broke me. I must have major head trauma! ... Major head trauma from the ribs. Uh-huh, it's all connected. I think that it's too hot and I can't breathe. I think that I'm seconds away from exploding all over the room.
"I think you should ditch the pants?" I say hopefully.
She looks at me strangely for a moment, but then appears to actually contemplate it. Finally, she shakes her head. "Nah, I think this'll do."
WHAT will do?
What the hell is going on?!
Ah, who cares?
"Maybe you should mess up your hair a little more then." And do that squirming thing while you're at it.
She does and disappointingly, doesn't.
"Okay, Willow. You can come in now." She lowers her voice after that. "Faith, play along for, like, half an hour. Please." She does the puppy dog eye thing that everyone but me is so good at.
"B, I don't even now what the hell is-"
"Shhh." Buffy cuts me off. She glances over her shoulder, toward her friend. My hands make their way up to her very tight, flat stomach. Not actually touching, just kind of hovering. When she turns around again, I let them fall back onto the bed.
"Hey, Will." Buffy rolls over slowly, pushing back against me, and sliding down my body. Nudging my thighs apart, she positions herself between them, leaning back and wrapping my arms around herself..
This is the best game, ever. I don't even care that Willow is standing in the corner gawking at us 'cause I'm pretty much right there with her. I've come to the conclusion that it's not me with the head trauma. It's Buffy. She's obviously been sniffing glue or some shit. Maybe she got into her mom's alcohol cabinet.
Whatever it is, this day just kicks ass!
"Uh..." Willow blushes, staring at the ground. Unlike me, she seems to have a problem with Buffy's breasts. "You said come over and... and what am I doing here again? I mean you're busy. You look busy... obviously. I should go... home now. To bed. To sleep! Yup, look at that, it's way past my bedtime. Way, way past. I should go."
It's, like, five o'clock in the afternoon, but whatever.
"Yeah, see ya." I wave one hand dismissively, pulling Buffy against me a little bit tighter with the other.
"Faith!" Buffy says, glaring at me. Then she changes her tone, but not by much and when she speaks again it's through clenched teeth. "Baby, that was rude. Don't you think?"
Baby?
Cool.
"Sorry, B." I run my hand slowly down her thigh, and she slaps it away.
Oh well. Worth a shot.
So I do it again.
The results aren't much better this time around. She pinches my arm, hard, until I yelp.
Turning her head toward me with the fakest smile I've ever seen; she leans in close. It kind of scares me, to be perfectly honest.
"No. Touching." She says quietly, still with that same smile. Still with my skin in her finger death grip. She twists it a little bit harder.
"Okay, okay!" She lets go and I rub my arm. "Jesus, B."
This game just got un-fun.
Red doesn't seem to have noticed much of anything. Surprise, surprise. Buffy makes a hand gesture and Willow sits on the floor, pressing back into the wall as if that will protect her delicate eyes from anything fun.
Should have gone for the breasts while I had a chance. Damn it! Stupid hands. Don't even think before you go wandering, do you?
Buffy and a still blushing Willow start up a conversation. Mainly monosyllabic answers from Red, who seems to be looking anywhere but the bed. I tune them out. Not even a shirt-less Buffy is enough to stop me from... yeah okay, I'm sulking. Whatever. I don't care, I can admit it. I'll just sit here being mad, with my arm stinging. They probably won't even notice.
And if Buffy didn't know before that I wanted her, well, she certainly does now. For some reason she wants Red to think that we were doin' it before she came in. I could have added a little realism to the situation if she had told me beforehand. But no, can't tell Faith anything. Let's just jump her and get her all worked up and then pinch her. Ha! It'll be fun. Come on Willow, everybody can join in. Lots of laughs for all.
"Don't you think, Faith?" Buffy asks, after about ten minutes.
"No." I say sullenly, not even knowing what they were talking about.
"Fine." Buffy sighs. "Be like that."
"Fine, I will."
"You're like a little baby, I swear."
Yeah, mock me. I'll get you back, Buffy Summers.
I'll get you back right now, in fact.
Yeah, now works perfectly for me.
Besides, when will I ever have a half-naked Buffy sitting between my legs again?
Never, that's right.
I think it's about time we turned this game back into my favor.
Plus, I got myself my very own audience.
You just wait until I'm through with you, B. You'll never be the same again.
I can't help the smile that breaks out onto my face. Buffy notices and relaxes back into me, resting her head on my shoulder. My guess would be that she thinks the tension has passed, when in reality it's just beginning.
"I'm sorry for being a jerk." I whisper, insincerely.
Buffy pats my arm with what I can only assume to be 'understanding', before turning back to listen to Red. Yeah, she got over her whole 'Buffy's only half-clothed' deal and now she's talking about a mile a minute. How anyone can keep up is beyond me. I only catch about every second or third word.
"So..." I interrupt what I'm sure was a very interesting conversation. "How long have we been together for now, B?"
"About a week." She glares at me. Then tries to change the subject. "Willow was talking, Faith. Don't be rude."
"A week, huh?" I grin. "Must have been a pretty interesting week; It's all a blur to me. Did you tell Willow about the first time I saw you naked 'cause I'd like to hear that story again."
"You haven't seen me naked yet, Faith." She subtly digs her elbow into my leg, hard.
"Well, that's a damn shame." I pull both of her arms back across her body before she can cause me any more unnecessary pain. "How about the first time you let me feel you up?"
"I'm sure that Willow doesn't want to hear any of your sordid fantasies, Faith."
And the way she keeps saying my name sounds like more of a threat than anything else she could possibly come up with. She turns her head up to face me. Yeah, she's pissed. Big time. Too bad for her that I never actually figured out where that line is. I like to push my luck.
I'm still holding onto both of her arms for obvious reasons.
"Maybe we should show her then." I let go of her and move my hands down between us, gripping her ass. She quickly grabs my wrists tightly, digging her nails into my skin. Yeah, it hurts, but the feeling of her all tensed against me is so much better. I ignore the pain.
"That hurts, Buffy." I murmur softly, nuzzling her ear.
"Well then knock it off, Faith." She says just as quietly, digging her fingernails in a little deeper.
"Now why would I go and do a thing like that?"
"Because I will hurt you very, very, very much."
"Aw, baby, you know that it just turns me on when you talk violence." I look over at Willow, huddled in the corner. "Is it because of Willow? She knows about us now. She doesn't care. Do you, Red?"
"No, no sir. I completely accept it as a valid lifestyle choice." She says with her eyes pressed shut tightly.
"There, see? We can celebrate our love freely now, Buffy. We don't have to hide it anymore." I give her ass a tight squeeze.
That's the last straw for B, because she spins around fully with her fist raised high in the air. I quickly point to Red before she can do something that I know I'll regret, even if she won't. Willow, along with her eyes shut tight, now has her hands pressed to her ears too. I guess she's a little disturbed by the thought of me groping Buffy.
I guess Buffy's disturbed by the thought of me groping her too, but she lowers her hand anyway.
I'm not sure what makes me do it. Maybe it's because I've gone so far already, or the fact that even if Buffy decides to speak to me again after today, she'll never let me get this close to her again. Maybe it's because I still have no idea what's going on or why she's doing this, but the fact that a relationship with me, even a pretend one, doesn't repulse her completely, gives me hope. Maybe it's because I've wanted it for so long and I can't help myself, or that this has occupied my every waking thought since I first stepped foot in this crappy town. Maybe it's because she's so damn beautiful and I have next to no self control.
Or maybe it's because I love her... Just a little.
Whatever the reason, I don't even wait until she's fully facing me again before grabbing her by the arms and pulling her in closer.
I kiss her.
I kiss Buffy Summers.
And it's amazing and beautiful.
Until she knees me in the groin.
That part kinda sucks.
But she was totally into it for that whole second, I know it.
"That's it! Get out!" She jumps off the bed.
Does this mean that the game's over already?
Damn.
"B, come on. Don't be like that."
"I have put up with so much crap from you, I don't even know where to start. And you!" She spins around to point at Red. But she's making some "la, la, la" sounds, that resemble no song I've ever heard of. Buffy throws her hands up and turns back to me. "I would be yelling right about now, but I have no idea what to say. Just go, Faith."
"Why does she get to stay?" I point to Red.
"She doesn't." Buffy nudges Willow with her foot, and she stops making noises. "Everybody out!"
"Bye, Buffy. Drink some water." Willow jumps up, leaving the room more enthusiastically than I ever thought possible.
I ignore her. "B, I really think that we should talk about this."
"We'll talk later."
"No, later you'll be all weirded out." I stand up and walk over to her, but she takes a step backward. I try not to look hurt. "I think that we should talk now."
"There's nothing to talk about. I have a boyfriend!" Realizing that I'm not going to jump her, she moves closer, pushing me toward the door.
"Then why did you kiss me?" I stop walking.
"I did not! You kissed ME."
"If you say so." I shrug.
I don't mean to do it. I really don't. But she's still only wearing a bra! Can I help it if my eyes wander? Worst possible time, granted, but still...
Any chance that I was going stay in the room evaporates.
"Good bye, Faith." She pushes me out, slamming the door in my face.
When I turn around Willow's staring at me curiously.
"What?" I ask, annoyed.
"She kicked you out."
"And?"
"And aren't you two all... you know?"
"Oh, that." I run a hand through my hair. "Yeah, I don't know. The girl has issues."
"So you're not?"
"No."
"You didn't...?"
I don't know why she's finding it so difficult to believe.
"Come on, Red." I sling my arm over her shoulders. "Let's go and get drunk."
"I don't think so, Faith." She pushes my arm off of her.
"Man, I'm getting rejected all over the place." I look back at the closed doorway. "What's up with that?"
Willow hesitates. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"
"Aw, you know me." I shrug.
"Yeah, I do." She frowns. "Let's go... But you just keep your breasts to yourself, Mister."
"Deal."
**********
"She hates me." I slam my head against the bar.
"I'm sure that's not true." Willow pats my back half-heartedly.
I lift my head up and she shrugs. I guess she didn't mean to be sympathetic.
"She does." I sit up again and drown the rest of my drink. "She hates me. I'm surprised that I'm still breathing... I AM still breathing, aren't I?"
She studies me for a moment. "You do appear to be breathing, yes."
"That's nice." I say sadly.
"Faith, I'm sure that she doesn't hate you."
"No, you're right. She wishes that I was dead! Dead and rotting in a forest somewhere, covered in maggots. Little white maggots. And there's birds pecking at my decayed and mutilated flesh. I only have one eyeball 'cause the other one got all eaten up. Buffy's going to stand over my remains and laugh and point, and say: "I hope that your other eyeball gets eaten too!" And I won't be able to do anything because I'm dead. Dead from a broken heart."
"Oookay. I think some people have had enough to drink for one night." She tries to take my new drink away, but I'm too quick for her. I clutch it to my chest protectively and she backs off. "Nice imagery, by the way, with the maggots and the decay."
"Yeah?"
"Oh yeah, I was totally grossed out."
"I didn't even get to the smell part yet." I sniff. "You wanna hear?"
"Clearly, you've had a lot of time to think about the deterioration of your body... Which is just disturbing on a whole bunch of levels. Please stop."
"Whatever." I throw my glass against the wall. Willow jumps when it shatters. "I hate her!"
"You hate her? Wow, where's this coming from?"
"Look what she did to me!" I look down at myself in disgust. "I'm a loser."
"Faith, you're not a loser."
"Not as bad as you, but I'm still a loser. And it's all her fault."
"Well, thank you very..." She stops speaking and starts tugging on my arm. "Faith, let's go."
"No." I shake my head. "I'm staying here until I die of alcohol poisoning. They'll drag my lifeless body from this place and pry an empty bottle from my cold, dead hands."
"Enough with the death, already! You're freaking me out." She looks over my shoulder nervously. "But that may be sooner than expected, what with the two huge bouncers headed over here and all."
"What?" I turn around to see them coming straight for us. "Shit."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Stay back, Willow. I'll protect you." I stand up unsteadily.
Uh... maybe I had more to drink than I thought I did.
Yeah, pretty much, 'cause Wilow just barely stops me from falling on my ass.
"That's very gallant of you, Faith, but I really think we should just leave."
"Nah, I got it." I shake off her arm and pick up the bar stool I was sitting on. I have to blink a couple of times before I can focus enough to throw it.
Willow ducks quickly as I swing it back, and when I let it fly, it lands on the other side of the room. The other side of the room that's nowhere near the jerks coming closer with every passing second. It misses them completely. In fact, all it does is make them come at us faster.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
"Can we go now?" Willow asks with more than a hint of panic in her voice.
"Well, if you had listened to me in the first place we would have been gone by now." I say, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the exit. They follow us out and onto the street.
We run for three blocks until I finally stop, looking back at the direction that we came from. I don't see them anymore. I can't help it; I start laughing, bracing myself against the nearest wall.
Willow comes to a stop too, breathing heavily. "You think this is funny?"
"I left my drink in there." I slide back against the wall until I'm sitting on the ground, still chuckling, and oh so very close to crying.
"You left your drink in there?" She says incredulously. "You threw your drink against the wall causing two humongous men to chase us. That's now one hundred and thirty seven times I've been chased in the past year due to slayer misconduct."
"I could have taken them."
"You? You can barely stand up. You're like one big trouble magnet! Where's Faith, you ask?" She throws her hands up in the air. "Just look for the trouble and there she is. And now, there I am, too! Surrounded by trouble. Oh, and that means YOU, just so that we're all clear on where I'm going with this."
"I don't hate Buffy." I say suddenly, looking up at her.
She sighs, coming to sit down next to me. "I know you don't, Faith."
"I tried to get her to like me... you know?"
"Well, it did all seem kinda cosy from where I was sitting." She offers.
"Yeah." I perk up a bit. "It did, didn't it?"
"I saw her kissing you." Willow says embarrassed.
"See? That's what I said!"
Best second of my life!
"Yeah." She starts getting into it. "And she's ALWAYS flirting with you."
"You think?"
"Oh, absolutely. I have it all written down somewhere. She likes you."
"Thanks, Red!" I say happily.
"So... What are you going to do now?"
"I should go have sex with her, right?"
"Uh... maybe you should wait until you're thinking a little more clearly." Willow says uncertainly.
"No, it'll be perfect." I start getting excited. "I'll climb up her tree and into her room and surprise her with sex!"
"How very Romeo and Juliet of you."
"Yeah. It's all romantic and shit. Maybe I should bring some flowers."
"Faith... I'm just going to be completely honest with you right now." She pauses for a moment. "That's the crappiest plan I've ever heard in my entire life. And I've heard some whoppers. Besides, she's probably patrolling right now, and you're... um... you're not exactly looking your best."
What's wrong with the way I look?
"So you're saying that I should shower first?"
"I'm saying..." She takes a deep breath. "I'm saying that you should sleep it off, think up a MUCH better declaration of love, get cleaned up a little, and only then go and see her. Maybe propositioning her for sex isn't the best way to go about it either... Just a thought."
"It always worked for me before." I frown.
"Or here's an idea!" She claps her hands together. "How 'bout no? How about we never mention sex with Buffy again? Sounds like a plan to me! And now that we're in total agreement... Buffy's not like... uh, some other people. You have to treat her nice, you know?" "I KNOW that. I was going to bring her flowers." I say defensively.
"No." Willow shakes her head.
"No?"
"No." She pats my arm. "We'll talk tomorrow."
I lean my head back against the wall and close my eyes. Mainly because this conversation is making my head hurt and it's hard to concentrate on Willow's face. I take a deep breath. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"You remind me of my little sister?"
"But you don't HAVE a sister." I glance over at her.
"Noticed that, huh?" She grins. "Well, if I had a sister I'd want her to be just like you."
"No you wouldn't."
"I don't know why, Faith." She looks at me exasperatedly. "Just accept help when someone offers it to you, 'kay?"
"Yeah... okay."
"Come on. Let's get you home." She starts to help me up.
"Wait." I pull my arm back. "You really think she doesn't hate me?"
"I'd bet my imaginary sister on it." She assures me.
Oh.
Okay, then...
I think.
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