There are a lot of things Faith would rather do than hang out with Buffy.

Getting a root canal would be one of them. Hell, maybe even getting a spinal tap too; maybe at the same fucking time. Which, in case she hasn't been completely clear on the matter, pretty much means she'd rather be doing anything but this.

The problem is though, it's not because she hates her. Unfortunately that isn't even an issue anymore, though she doesn't really see how that happened. Maybe she'll blame it on all the crying Buffy does or Faith's humanitarian side. Whatever. She's been having conflicting emotions about Buffy Summers throughout the day and it's getting a little too hard to handle.

The day started by avoiding her. Faith didn't really give much thought to Buffy or anyone else because she was trying to stop with all the drama. But then here comes Buffy in all her Slayer glory and Faith wants to tear her apart for having the one thing she ever wanted. But duty, destiny, the intense urge not to die brought her back and she tried to deal. She tried to ignore Buffy and her pain and just focus on her own. And then… then she fucked up and Buffy broke and Faith held her while she cried.

What the fuck is going on?

There's a part of her that's still pissed about the Slayer thing. Even though she thinks it's fuckin' horrific, what Buffy went through, and though she knows she never wants to go through something like that, there's a part of her that still wants it; wants the destiny. Maybe even still needs it. It doesn't make sense. The last thing Faith needs is to watch people die; feel the guilt of not being able to stop it. But then again, she'd have a better chance of stopping it as a Slayer than as just a regular girl. She doesn't know how Buffy is still sane, still trying to smile as she sits here and hangs out with her and her friends.

Buffy's strong. Faith can give her credit for that, if not for anything else.

It pisses Faith off how much Buffy almost… intrigues her. Slayer connection or not, it's still there. It frustrates her to fuck and back again though how Giles just dismissed her feelings as some kind of attraction to Buffy. And yeah, maybe she can admit that she's attracted to her on a physical level. She'd have to be blind or damn near stupid if she wasn't. But Faith knows what the "I want you" feeling feels like. She knows the fire burning in the pit of her stomach and the anticipation of a good fuck running through her veins. She doesn't get that with Buffy. It's not something lustful. It's her stomach break dancing inside of her and every inch of her skin being aware of Buffy's presence. Her heart speeds up and her breathing increases and she just… she feels a bit connected to her, in whatever way. She needs to be near her.

And that's gotta be due to the Slayer thing, right? What other explanation is there?

But Faith won't give into it. She doesn't want to be near Buffy just because some insane feeling that she gets inside whenever the girl is around. She refuses to let it control her, so she fights it. The better half of the night has been dedicated to staying the hell away from the blonde Slayer, getting drunk, and avoiding her gaze. So far it's working out pretty well.

"Uh oh, look who just came in," Xander says under his breath as he nudges Faith a little, making her look up towards the entrance.

Cordelia. With Harmony in tow, of course.

"Fuck her, man," Faith says with a shrug. "What's she gonna do? Keep runnin' her mouth? Fuck it." Faith picks up the shot and holds it up to Xander.

"You know she's gonna say something to Buffy if she sees her," Xander says, but holds up shot up and clinks their glasses together before they both slam down the alcohol quickly. Xander makes a face at the taste.

"B can fight her own battles," Faith says, her eyes flickering over to Buffy and Willow who are sitting together at a table in the corner, talking and smiling. Faith's upper lip curls a little and she slams her hand down on the counter, trying get the bartenders attention.

"Yes, Ma'am," Trish, the bartender mocks as she raises an eyebrow at Faith's demanding manner.

"Two more," Faith says flatly.

"You just see an ex?" Trish asks with a laugh as she grabs the bottle of Jack Daniels and starts pouring.

Xander pats Faith on the back comfortingly but addresses Trish. "Jealous. She thinks someone's stealing her friends." Faith directs her sneer at him.

"Shut up. Seriously."

"Hey, better some bitch stealing your friends then your girlfriend," Trish says as she puts the bottle away.

"I don't do girlfriends," Faith says flatly. Trish smirks.

"Trust me, I know." She slides the shots over to Faith and Xander, but doesn't keep her eyes off of Faith. "On the house, lover. Though do me a favor and try to keep the drinking to a minimum tonight. I know what happens when you don't and frankly I'd like you to stop fucking with my head."

Faith smirks, her tongue snaking out as she looks Trish over, her eyes landing on her breasts before going back up to her face. "You didn't complain last time." She takes the shot in her hand but doesn't drink it yet. "Besides, I told you straight up what it was the last couple times we did it. I might fuck around, but I don't fuck with anyone's head."

"Sweetie, you fuck with everyone's head. You might be direct, but that doesn't mean you don't purposely leave us wanting more," Trish tells her as she leans sexily over the bar, giving Faith a nice view of her cleavage. Trish cocks an eyebrow at her, noticing Faith staring at her breasts again, before some other customer asks for her attention. "Enjoy," she says in a low voice, before turning away.

"Now she's fucking with my head," Faith says with a sigh as she feels the desire form in the pit of her stomach. She sighs and looks over at Xander who's smirking at her. "What?"

"Can I ask how many women you've slept with or will you kick my ass?" Xander asks, the alcohol making him a little bolder. Faith laughs a little.

"Not as many as you probably think," Faith says honestly, but amused.

"Hey, hey!" Xander says, looking across the bar but slapping Faith's arm with the back of his hand insistently. Faith scowls and slaps him back.

"What?! Damn, boy. Relax."

"Buffy just spotted Cordelia," Xander says, with a smirk as wide as his face. He turns to her, "Guess what she just did?"

Faith looks at him like he's gone insane for a minute before realization dawns on her and she laughs. "Oh no way. She checked out her ass? Even after her being a bitch to her?"

Xander smirks and raises his shot, "Drinking game on?"

Faith laughs and picks up her shot, clinking it to his. "Drinking game on," she says before they down their shots, feeling the burn slide down their throats. "Trish!" Faith calls, sliding the empty shot glasses down the bar. She holds up four fingers.

"Four?" Xander asks.

Faith shrugs. "Hey, we might as well be prepared."

They watch Buffy for a bit as Trish slides them a couple more shots. Buffy seemed to be deep in conversation with Willow, but Faith and Xander notice her steal a couple glances in Cordelia's direction, who still seems not to have noticed Buffy's presence. Finally her eyes make a full sweep of Cordelia's backside and Xander and Faith cheer and down their shots.

"Do you think she knows she's doing it?" Xander asks.

Faith shrugs as she gets off of the bar stool and stretches a little. She turns and leans against the bar, elbows behind her so that her chest is more on display. It's just habit. "I think she's knee deep in denial," Faith tells him. "But that ain't our problem, so whatever."

"I think it's more your problem than anyone else's right now," Xander tells her, which makes Faith look at him in confusion.

"Uh… why?"

"Because Buffy just checked you out. Not very subtly either. There might have been drool involved," Xander says, halfway between a smirk and shock.

"What?" Faith asks, her head spinning around to look at Buffy, whose eyes go wide at being caught staring and her head drops to stare at her drink automatically. Faith rounds on Xander. "You're a liar." She knows he isn't, Buffy blushed all kinds of red, but in her head she'd rather he was and that didn't just happen.

"Hey, scouts honor," Xander says, holding up three fingers.

"Wrong hand."

"What?" Xander asks, looking at his hand. "How the hell do you know?" Faith just smirks while Xander looks confused. "Well, anyway, she did," Xander says finally.

"Great," Faith says dryly. She makes a point to not look over at Buffy. She's feeling a little weird.

"Oh come on, Faith. I know what you said before, but I also know you can't resist getting a little—"

"If you value the use of your mouth, you'll shut it," Faith says, turning around to get her last shot and downing it. She just needs a damn drink. "I ain't fuckin' with all that, Xand. I don't do closet cases."

"You did Harmony."

"Fluke! Does no one fuckin' listen to me when I say that word? I was drunk," Faith protests. "I like my women a little less with a stick up their ass and a little more willingness to get naked, thanks."

"So you wouldn't, even if—?" Xander presses, but is interrupted but a furious glare shot in his direction.

"No!"

Xander holds up his hands in defense. "You're getting sniptastic again." Faith rolls her eyes and grabs Xander's shot, doing it for him. "Hey!" he protests. She just smirks.

"You should've been quicker."

"You know, you're going to regret this when you're falling over drunk and I'm sober as a whistle," Xander tells her.

Faith raises an eyebrow. "A whistle?"

"Well have you ever seen a whistle that's drunk?"

"Whatever. And I'm not gonna be falling over drunk. Worst case scenario? I take Trish back to the storage room and fuck her brains out. Which, really, ain't a bad sitch if ya think about it."

"Seriously, why do you always get all the hot chicks?" Xander complains.

Faith smirks, cockiness in her tone, "Because I'm hot." Xander rolls his eyes, then looks up, over at Willow and Buffy. His face falls.

"Uh oh."

"What?" Faith asks, then turns to see what he's looking at. She scowls at the sight of Cordelia doing the bitch thing to Buffy and Willow. Jesus. Like this is what she needs right now. But Willow's looking intimidated and Faith isn't about to let that happen so she gets up, walking over to them.

Cordelia's voice floods through the music the closer she gets, "—you would ever be that pathetic as to stoop so low as to hang out with the scum of the school, Buffy."

"Problem?" Faith asks in a mockingly sweet voice as she slides in between Buffy and Willow, leaning her arms on the table as she smiles at Cordelia across from her in no way that looks like it's meant to be comforting.

"Ugh, Faith," Cordelia scoffs, like she's less than dirt. "Go away. The last thing anyone needs is the dyke virus you keep trying to spread around."

"Speaking of, where is Harmony?" Faith asks, leering a bit. "If she's in the bathroom you better go check on her Cordy, wouldn't want her to fall back into old habits."

"Go slit your wrists, Faith."

"Leave her alone, Cordelia. If you have a problem with me, then have a problem with me. You don't have to be a bitch to everyone," Buffy says, glaring at her. Cordelia raises her eyebrows, amused.

"Aw, did I just insult your girlfriend, Buffy? Wouldn't be surprised if you're hanging out with this trash; you've got to be infected by now. Does she touch you just the way you like it? No wonder Scott dumped you," Cordelia taunts, which makes Buffy's eyes go wide. Hell, Faith's too. Cordelia would say a lot, but never anything like that. Faith's coming to the conclusion that Cordelia is probably a little bit drunk now.

"We can't all aspire to be cum guzzling thunder cunts like you, Cordelia," Faith says with a smile, knowing that it's going to piss her off.

"What did you just call me?" Cordelia asks, her own eyes wide in anger. Cordelia snarls at the insult and grabs Buffy's drink, throwing it at Faith.

The cold beverage soaks Faith's tank top and all she sees is red. Everything else around her blurs to nothing as her anger takes over her whole body. Suddenly the table they were sitting at is knocked over, falling to the ground with a smash and Cordelia's throat is in Faith's hand as she slams her up against a wall hard. Cordelia screams and tries to fend Faith off, but Faith's fist is raised and she's ready to just murder her.

"You don't fucking throw things at me, bitch!" Faith screams, but before her fist makes impact, she's grabbed from behind.

"Faith, don't!"

"Get the fuck off of me!" Faith screams, but Buffy grabs her other arm, pulling Faith tight against her and locking her arms in place. Faith struggles, swearing up a storm, but Buffy's too strong. It only infuriates her more. "Bitch if you don't let me go right now I'm gonna fuckin' kill you too!"

"You can try," Buffy says, not at all feeling threatened as she holds Faith back as Cordelia picks herself up off of the wall.

"You stupid skank!" Cordelia screams, rubbing her throat. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer, bitch!"

"What, you mean your Daddy's lawyer?" Faith laughs icily. "We all know the only reason you're Daddy's little girl is cause you let him slide his cock in your tight little ass every now and then!" Even Buffy gasps at that. Yeah, Faith knows that's low and a really vile thing to say. She also knows it's not true, but it had the desired effect.

Cordelia starts calling her every name in the book, kicking off her heels before she comes at her. She swings, but she misses because Buffy lets go of Faith for a second to stop it. But that gives Faith time to elbow Cordelia in the face, sending her sprawling to the ground. She tries to go after her, do more damage, but she's grabbed from behind again by Buffy who's now the one swearing at her. The music is loud and Faith can only catch every other word from her sting of obscenities but she's pretty sure Buffy just called her a stupid bitch more than once.

"Get off of me!" Faith yells again, still furious about Buffy's strength. But Buffy's dragging her away from Cordelia, her grip so tight on Faith that it's actually painful. Before she knows it she's hauled into the women's room and thrown up against the wall.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Buffy screams.

"Oh go fuck yourself," Faith snaps, though not very loud since the wind was knocked out of her from the force of being thrown. She coughs a little, pain evident in her shoulder.

"Do you just wake up and think, 'Hey, I have a fun idea, today I'll get a restraining order!'?!?" Buffy mockingly yells at her. "Do you have any self control at all?!"

"The bitch threw a fucking drink at me, what the hell would you have done?!" Faith screams, her hands connecting with Buffy's shoulder, trying to push her away roughly, but Buffy slips her hands inside of Faith's arms and pushes them off of her, before slamming Faith back up against the wall so fast that Faith didn't even realized she moved until she was feeling pain again. "Fucking bitch," Faith snarls.

"Once again, your vocabulary is just flourishing," Buffy says dryly, her eyes flashing in anger.

"I should've fucked you up when I had the chance," Faith snarls. Buffy rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, well, I'll be sure to shed a few tears over that one," Buffy mocks. "Now will you just calm down before—"

But she's interrupted as Willow bursts in through the bathroom door. "Faith!" she exclaims, looking worried. "T-The cops are here."

"Shit," Faith swears. She looks around the bathroom and spots a window. She turns back to Willow, "Get Xander and get out of here. I'll be okay, ain't no way I'm getting my ass hauled to jail." Willow just stands there though so Faith insists, "Go! Seriously!" Willow just blinks at her before nodding and leaving.

"Faith!" Buffy yells.

Faith turns, ignoring Buffy and runs over to the window, trying to open it. It doesn't budge though so she elbows the glass, making it shatter.

"What are you—?!" Buffy screams, shock coloring her face before anger. "What is with your juvenile delinquent complex?!"

"Fuck off," Faith says as she hoists herself up, crawling through the window. She can feel a piece of glass cut her palm as she climbs out the window, but ignores it. When she gets outside she stands on her feet and looks back to see Buffy crawling out the window after her. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Buffy gets up, standing to face her. "You're an idiot, Faith! What are you gonna do? Run through the back alleys of Sunnydale at night?"

"Yeah, that'd be exactly what I'm doing, Blondie. Without you." Faith turns to walk away but Buffy grabs her arm, pulling hard so Faith rounds to face her. Faith snarls, trying to get her arm out of her grasp but finds that she can't.

"It's not safe!" Buffy tells her, letting her go. "Vampires are always—"

"I can handle myself, B. Don't need a babysitter or a knight in shining pastels for that matter," Faith snaps, turning to walk away. But Buffy's eyes go wide suddenly and she grabs Faith, practically throwing her around the side of the building and into a dark corner, making her crouch down behind the dumpster. She slaps a hand over Faith's mouth to keep her from talking.

Faith starts to scream obscenities behind her hand, but falls silent quickly when Buffy shoves her once to get her point across. Faith then hears two men talking faintly. Cops. Faith's heart starts beating wildly and she stays perfectly still. Buffy doesn't move her hand, making sure Faith keeps quiet even though she's not stupid. After a couple minutes Faith hears footsteps retreating and Buffy takes her hand off of Faith's mouth. Faith takes a deep breath.

"Why did you do that?" Faith asks softly, idly wondering why Buffy is helping her get away from cops.

"Because I don't need you in jail, you moron," Buffy whispers back, still angry. She gets up, dusting off her pants before she grabs Faith's hand – very much without her permission – and basically pulls her off the ground. "Come on," she says, starting to run, pulling Faith along with her.

"I told you I didn't want you to fucking—" Faith starts, running behind Buffy as she's basically pulled along through the back alleyways.

"Just shut up for once," Buffy snaps as she keeps running. She looks over her shoulder and shoots her an indignant look, "And you're welcome, by the way."

"Whatever," Faith growls, not approving of this whole being saved by Buffy plan that seems to be in effect at the moment. The two run down a couple alley ways until Buffy finally stops, getting them a far enough distance away from The Bronze. Faith shakes Buffy's hand off of her, which makes Buffy finally let go and she puts her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath. Buffy doesn't seem winded at all.

Stupid Slayer shit.

"You know that Cordelia is going to give them your name and file a report now, right?" Buffy asks her, looking down at the brunette. Faith stands up, rubbing the pain from her shoulder, still angry.

"Don't give a shit."

"Yeah? Well I do," Buffy says, eyes flashing. "We have demons who want to kill us, Faith. The last thing we need is for you to be stupid and get your ass thrown in jail because you can't control yourself. No wonder Giles is making you train with me; you're an emotional time bomb!"

"You don't know anything about me!" Faith yells, the fury rising in her again. She knows she can't control it, she also knows that Buffy makes it worse. She ignites the passion inside of her and right now it's all pointed at the anger gage. She tries to come at her, but finds herself slammed back against another wall, only this time it's brick and fuck one of the uneven ones just stuck her lower back hard.

"Will you just chill out?!" Buffy yells, holding her there. Her eyes are flashing, her muscles poised. Her hair's a bit wild, strands falling in her face and damn… she looked fuckin' sexy.

Fuck, maybe she is a little drunk.

With that realization, it seems like all the liquor Faith consumed finally hits her… and hits her hard. "You know," Faith says, wincing a bit from the pain, but then her face forms into a leer. She licks her bottom lip a little, eyeing her up before she cocks her head at the blonde. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're beginning to like putting us in this position."

Faith can see a flash of desire behind Buffy's eyes as she realizes the intimacy in it, but it's gone quickly, replaced by an eye roll. "Probably not for the same reason that you like it," she says, the tone of her voice like she's putting her down for being such a slut; Faith growls.

"Oh go choke on a horse dick, Summers. I saw you check me out at the bar," Faith says, suddenly all her intentions shifting quickly. She can feel the tingles again; all over her. Her stomach's going stark nuts and her hearts speeding up but it's not just that… she can feel it now. Suddenly, out of nowhere; lust, the burn in the pit of her stomach and the anticipation running hot under her skin. It's probably the liquor, but she really doesn't care at this point.

Even if she doesn't fuck her, she can damn sure fuck with her and still come out relatively satisfied. Anger and lust seems to be on equal terms when it comes to Buffy right now. She's too drunk to think about it, let alone stop it.

"You know what I think?" Faith asks, her voice coming out as a throaty whisper as she leans her head in a little, getting more in Buffy's space.

"I don't care," Buffy says, but it doesn't come out as firm or indifferent as she obviously wanted it too. Faith feels Buffy's grip slackening on her shoulders, letting Faith get up off the wall slowly. Buffy takes a small step back, but she still keeps her hands on Faith's shoulders, trying to keep distance, but not trying very hard.

"I think you look at me and you can't help but wonder what it'd be like," Faith taunts her, a little cocky. Buffy's eyes are wide as Faith goes on as she leans in a bit, whispering with a little chuckle, "And you know what else I think?" Buffy doesn't have a chance to answer though, because all of a sudden Faith grabs her, spinning her around until Buffy's the one with her back against the wall. Faith presses against her, lips to Buffy's ear as she says quietly, "I think that if you didn't want it, I wouldn't have been able to just do that…"

"I'm not gay," Buffy manages to get out, yet still doesn't make Faith get off of her even though they both know she can. She just stands there, stock still like if she moves she's afraid that she won't move away from Faith.

Faith laughs a little, low in her ear. She can feel Buffy shudder a little at the feeling. "No?" Faith lets her lips drag against Buffy neck and she hears her gasp softly. Faith presses her lips to Buffy's ear, speaking so softly she can barely even hear herself, but knows Buffy is feeling every word, "You couldn't even begin to imagine the things I could do to you, B. I'd get you to pop so fuckin' hard you'd swear you'd gone blind. But you'd keep screamin' anyway, begging me to let you touch heaven just a little bit longer…"

"Shit," Buffy swears softly, the word coming out almost as a breathy sigh of defeat. Faith can feel Buffy press against her instinctively, almost invitingly. But then she says another, "SHIT!" louder this time before pushing Faith off of her. "Vampires!"

"What?" Faith asks, confused. She turns around and sees two shadows coming towards them. "Oh, fuck."

Chapter Thirteen - Embarrassment

"Faith?"

"Yeah?"

Buffy lifts up her jeans, grabbing two stakes that she had strapped to her leg. She looks over and tosses one to Faith, who catches it easily. "Try not to get eaten."

Faith cocks an eyebrow at her. "I was hoping to get eaten, but not by one of them." Buffy flushes red and it makes Faith smirk.

"Don't distract me either," Buffy tells her with a pointed look, but Faith can see a shy smile trying to sneak out. She turns back to the vampires who are closing in on them. "You boys looking to party?" Buffy asks them with a 'blonde ditz' attitude and a hand on her hip. Faith can't help but snort behind her.

"You could say that," one of them responds, getting close enough for the street light to illuminate their deformed faces. They both snarl and Faith's grip on her stake tightens. She's not nervous though; there's only two and she's sure Buffy can take care of them without a problem.

"I dunno, B. I mean, look at them. They're kinda ugly," Faith says, leaning against the wall nonchalantly. "I think we can score hotter."

"They are kind of deformed," Buffy says, cocking her head to the side a bit to peer at them. "Inbreeding?" she suggests lightly, which makes Faith laugh. Buffy's cool demeanor makes Faith feel a lot better about the situation and she just stands back and watches the Slayer work.

"Why aren't they screaming?" the other asks the first, confused.

"You must be new," Buffy says, like she's explaining something to a child. "Let me introduce myself; I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." She holds up her stake and smiles.

"Slayer?" the confused one asks.

"Shit," the other says, but doesn't back down. Not that he really has a chance to because before Faith can even register that Buffy has moved, she's delivered a roundhouse kick to the first, sending him sprawling on the ground before turning to the second.

The way Buffy moves is almost like physical poetry, only more violent. Faith can't help but appreciate it. She makes everything look so easy and every move she makes has a purpose. She takes some hits but she lands so many more. The confused vampire goes poof into a pile of dust quickly and the other isn't far behind. An uppercut to the jaw, a kick to the stomach and the vampire lands on the ground. Buffy's above him, that cocky look on her face as she slams the stake down into his chest making his last scream turn into nothing but an echo in the wind.

Buffy dusts herself off and turns around to face Faith. "Not to say 'I told you so' about the alleys, but…"

"Yeah, yeah," Faith responds with an eye roll and a bit of a scowl as she mockingly says, "My hero."

Buffy smirks and Faith tosses the stake back to her. "No," Buffy says, throwing it back to Faith. "You should keep that on you. Like, every day probably. I can't believe you don't already."

Faith shrugs. "Never thought about it."

"Faith, you're a Potential Slayer. How can you walk around unarmed after knowing what goes on at night?" Buffy asks incredulously.

"Who says I'm unarmed?" Faith asks with a smirk as lifts up her tank top a little to show Buffy a nasty looking knife that's hooked on her belt.

"It may have, I don't know, flown over your head or something, but stabbing a vampire with a knife isn't going to kill it," Buffy says flatly.

"No, but it can cut through bone; sever the head," Faith says with a smirk.

Buffy looks disgusted, "Okay, one; thanks for the serial killer visual. Two; if you think you can actually subdue a vampire long enough to slice through its head with that little knife, you're delirious. You're not a Slayer, you don't have the strength."

"Whatever," Faith says, scoffing before she starts to walk down the alley and towards the street. "Fuck off. You don't know what I'm capable of."

"Just do me a favor and keep the stake on you now, okay?" Buffy asks, apparently deciding to ignore all of the brunette's rude retorts as she catches up to her. Faith rolls her eyes, annoyed now.

"Why do you give a shit?"

"I'm sorry, would you rather I feed you to the next vampire we come across? Because that could be arranged," Buffy says, her own annoyance clear now. She folds her arms into herself as she walks side by side with Faith down the street.

"Go for it, Blondie."

"What is your problem?" Buffy asks, stopping. Faith rounds on her as she stops too.

"My problem?"

"Yes, your problem," Buffy reiterates. "One minute you stand up for me, the next you want to fight me, then you practically hump my leg in the alley and now you're bitchy again. So again I ask, what the hell is your problem?"

"Maybe I'm on my rag," Faith says sarcastically. "What's it to you?"

"You're not on your period," Buffy states.

"Okay, how the hell would you know?" Buffy flushes a little and Faith's eyes go wide. "No, seriously, how the fuck do you know that?"

"I just… know, okay?" Buffy says, turning red as she starts walking down the street. Faith goes after her.

"No, you can't just say shit like that and walk away," Faith says, grabbing Buffy's arm and making her turn around to face her. "What, do Slayers have some kind of fuckin' weird period tracking… whatever the fuck?"

"We have a heightened sense of smell, okay?" Buffy says, her face turning redder. Faith makes a disgusted face.

"That's fuckin' nasty, you know that right?"

"Just shut up, Faith. It's not like I asked for any of this," Buffy snaps, shrugging Faith off of her before turning to walk down the street again. Faith stares at her for a minute before catching up.

"So what, you got senses like an animal or somethin'?" She's not mocking anymore; just curious. It's fuckin' weird, but also a little cool.

"I don't know. My vision's better, my hearing's better, and my sense of smell is better so… I guess so," Buffy says softly, still a little embarrassed.

"Can you like… track people?"

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Do I look like a dog to you?" She pauses, then decides that wasn't a safe question to ask. "Don't answer that." Faith laughs a little.

"No, I mean like… if you can smell bitches who are on their rag, which, still fuckin' gross, but whatever… can you smell people when they're not? Like do I got some kind of scent?" Faith asks, her own curiosity making her forget that she was pissed off at Buffy earlier.

"You want to know what you smell like to me?" Buffy asks, looking at her funny.

Faith shrugs, walking a little faster before turning and facing Buffy. She starts walking backwards as she faces her. "Tell me," she presses.

"You're going to end up walking backwards into something and I'm gonna laugh," Buffy says with a smirk.

"I ain't a klutz."

"Famous last words."

"Just tell me, B. I know you can," Faith says, making sure to pay attention to her surroundings so that she doesn't actually walk into something. She looks at Buffy, watching the slight breeze pick up her blonde hair a little and spill it around her shoulders again. Buffy looks a little shy and it makes Faith try to hide her smile. "Come on," she presses.

Buffy shrugs a little self consciously. "You smell like…" she sighs. "Like leather and…" she mumbles the rest, not looking at her.

"Leather and what?"

"Honey," Buffy mumbles, though a bit louder this time. She flushes again and Faith smirks. "…And a little bit of cinnamon," she finishes, her voice really low now as her face gets even redder.

"What about Willow?" Faith asks, now wondering what everyone else smells like.

"Spearmint…"

"Xander?"

"Kind of like a Christmas tree, or maybe one of those car incense that smell like one?"

Faith laughs a little, then looks over her shoulder and dodges a street lamp before she backs into it.

"Giles?"

"Coffee."

"Giles drinks tea," Faith says pointedly.

"Yeah, well he smells like coffee beans," Buffy says with a shrug. "I don't know." She looks around. "Are we going the right way to your house?" she asks, trying to change the subject.

"You mean my motel room? Yeah," Faith says. Then she gets a twinkle in her eye and smirks. "Can you smell yourself?"

"I can't… smell my own specific scent, no," Buffy says, but doesn't look at her as she seems a bit embarrassed again. Faith cocks an eyebrow.

"But you can smell other things about you? Or… about other people?" Faith wiggles her eyebrows suggestively; teasing.

"Faith? Conversation over."

Faith chuckles a little, knowing where this is going. "No it ain't," she says with a wicked grin that makes Buffy look a little nervous. "If you can smell bitches on their rag, you gotta be able to smell… other stuff too." She stops in front of Buffy, making her stop too.

"This conversation is making me uncomfortable," Buffy states, like that's gonna stop it from happening. Faith rolls her eyes.

"You really need to get that stick removed."

"I don't have a stick!"

"You have a huge fuckin' stick. Have you ever gotten laid?" Faith asks incredulously as she looks at the blonde.

"That's none of your business," Buffy says indignantly with a little stomp of her foot before she pushes past her. Faith's eyes go wide.

"No way! Are you fuckin' kidding me? Weren't you with that Scott tool for like two years?" Faith asks surprised as she turns to catch up with her.

"My sex life is none of your business," Buffy snaps.

"You mean your lack of sex life," Faith corrects. Buffy rounds on her, making Faith stop. She glares at her.

"Just because I don't prance around and act like a huge slut like some people doesn't mean that I don't have a sex life," Buffy retorts.

"No, the fact that your cherry is still intact means you don't have one," Faith snaps back at her. "And for the fuckin' record, Twinkie, I don't sleep with every woman I see."

"You don't know anything about my hypothetical cherry," Buffy says, hands on her hips. "And besides, if what you say is true then why the hell were you all over me in the alley? You don't even like me and you wanted to sleep with me."

"Oh please. Don't flatter yourself, girlfriend. I'm…" Faith starts, then waves her hand around in the air for a minute to find the word, "Intoxicated. I was just messing with you." No she wasn't, but whatever. But she did have a lot to drink and besides; Buffy responded to it. She was all breathless and pressing up against her. For one second, Faith could feel her let go.

"You could have just said drunk… and no you weren't," Buffy tells her, the last part quietly, like she doesn't even know if she should say anything.

"I'm not drunk, I'm intoxicated. There's a fuckin' difference," Faith says, then points at her. "And you were the one eyeing me up to begin with, so don't put this on me. Don't start something you can't finish."

"I wasn't eyeing up anything!" Buffy defends. "Can't I just look at you now without you having to turn it into something sexual? God, Faith!" Buffy stomps again and takes off down the street. Faith growls in frustration and walks after her.

"You're gay."

"I am not gay!" Buffy practically screams. She looks over at Faith, eyes shooting daggers. "Will you shut up about that?!"

"Yes you are. You wanna know how I know?"

"NO," Buffy says firmly, then stops at crossway of streets. "Which way to your motel?"

"Right," Faith says, and follows after Buffy as she turns down the street. Faith still has a cocky look on her face, "I know cause—"

"Shut up."

"—when you were all pressed up against me, your breathing picked up, your pupils got darker and, let's not forget the best part of it – you let me do it," Faith says confidently.

"Faith," Buffy says flatly, turning around to face her, making them both stop again. "This may have escaped your notice, but you're a little intimidating."

Faith looks at her skeptically. "Please, you're the Slayer. You could have gotten out of it if you wanted."

"That's not—" Buffy starts, then sighs, exasperated. "That's not what I mean! I mean you… you and you. You're all…" she waves her hand a little. "You're like if sex was a human being, all walking around on two legs. It's… well, you know."

"Intimidating?" Faith asks with a smirk as her ego swells double its size. She leans against someone's fence and crosses her arms over her chest, her tongue teasing her bottom lip a little. Damn, and the award for the best compliment ever paid to her goes to…

"Will you stop?" Buffy asks, flustered as she looks at her. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Faith asks, amused.

"Being all…" she waves her hand again, trying not to look Faith in the eye.

"Sexy?"

"Yes—NO! Intimidating. Damnit, Faith!" Buffy snaps, turning bright red before spinning around and walking away from her. Faith chuckles as she watches Buffy walk away from her. She tilts her head a little as she checks her out.

"You got a nice ass, y'know."

Buffy's hands automatically fly to her ass to cover it from Faith's view before turning around. Faith laughs as she gets up off of the fence and walks over to her. She might have just found a new game to play; this was fun. "Stop hitting on me," Buffy says, flustered.

"I wasn't hitting on you, just sayin' you got a nice ass," Faith says with a smirk as she walks past her. She can see her motel room in the distance. "Don't worry; I don't fuck closet-cases."

Buffy scoffs, "Yeah, cause I so got that impression when you were trying to make out with my neck."

"I wasn't fuckin'—" Faith starts, annoyed. But she's interrupted.

"And what about Harmony?" Buffy asks suddenly.

"What?"

"Harmony; she wasn't gay and you had sex with her," Buffy points out.

"Are you trying to make a case about why I shouldn't fuck you or why I should?" Faith asks, confused.

"You're not having sex with me, I'm not having sex with you, there will be NO sex between us," Buffy says firmly. Faith rolls her eyes.

"You keep tellin' yourself that, Twinkie," Faith says with a smirk as she walks onto the motel's property, Buffy following after her, glaring.

"Why do you do this?" Buffy asks, annoyed as they stop outside of Faith's motel room. Faith turns to her with an eyebrow raised and Buffy goes on. "I mean you don't like me, you told me you want us to, I don't know, hate each other, and now you're… you're doing the sexual thing!"

"It's kinda entertaining, not gonna lie," Faith says with a grin. She puts her tongue in her cheek as she looks her over, amused. "You get all flustered and embarrassed."

"Well will you stop?" Buffy pleads. "I don't want to be your entertainment!"

Faith leans against her door, smirking. "Kinda sucks for you then, huh?"

"Faith, I mean it! It's not funny!"

"Faith?" comes another voice that makes Faith's eyes go wide. She turns to see her mother's door opening. "Fai, is that you? I need—" But then Caroline stops as she notices Buffy. "Oh, hello. I'm Caroline; Faith's mother," she says, holding out her hand to Buffy. Buffy takes it with a smile, but not before shooting a glare at Faith.

"Buffy," she introduces herself. Caroline's eyebrows get lost in her hairline.

Oh no.

"Oh, so you're Buffy," Caroline says with a smile and Faith smacks her forehead with her palm and closes her eyes. God damnit. This can't go over well. "Faith has told me so much about you."

"She has?" Buffy asks, confused. She turns to Faith, "You have?"

"No, Mum's just trying to be polite," Faith says, shooting her mother a glare. She folds her arms into herself and narrows her eyes. "Which you can stop anytime now, seriously."

"Faith, don't be rude," Caroline chastises her. Faith's eyes flash but Caroline ignores her, still smiling at Buffy, "You're just as pretty as she said you were." Faith's eyes go just as wide as Buffy's do.

"Mum, will you quit it? I didn't say shit about her being pretty and you know that. Stop trying to—"

"Would you like to come in, dear?" Caroline asks Buffy, ignoring her daughter. Then Faith notices the tone in her voice. Great, she's super fuckin' high. This just keeps getting worse and worse.

"Um…" Buffy says, looking over at Faith who's sure she's five shades of red now and getting more pissed off with each passing second. She's gonna kill her mother. Chop her up into little pieces and scatter them all over New Mexico.

"She's gotta go," Faith says, putting her hand on Buffy's arm and trying to steer her away from the catastrophe that's sure to be had if she stays. But Caroline will have none of that.

"Nonsense, it's not late. I'm surprised you're home this early, Fai," Caroline says, opening Faith's door before ushering them both inside. "Now you girls have fun and I'll be back in a second with some drinks," Caroline says, her smile wide as she closes the door to the room and walks into hers.

Buffy and Faith just look at each other for a second.

"Your mother seems… friendly," Buffy says slowly, then looks around the room. Faith glowers. She didn't want Buffy in here, but she knows her mother's room is probably a freaking disaster and that's why she shoved them in this one. Jesus.

"Ignore her. She's trying to get me a girlfriend," Faith says flatly before sitting on her bed heavily. "Feel free to make a run for it."

"I don't want to be rude…" Buffy says slowly, but her eyes flicker towards the door.

"Run while you still can," Faith tells her seriously. But just as Buffy starts to back up towards the front door, the door that connects Faith's room and Caroline's opens and her mother walks through carrying three… shots. Christ.

See, this is why she doesn't like her mother hanging out with her friends. Not that Buffy's a friend, but still. Most mother's bring out milk and cookies. Her mom? She brings vodka.

"Here you go, dear," Caroline says, smiling as she hands a shocked Buffy a shot. Faith almost laughs at the look on her face, but doesn't. She takes the one her mother hands her and does it without a moment's hesitation. She's gonna need it for this. Caroline looks at her disapprovingly.

"Rude," she says again.

"Whatever. Mum, B's really gotta go, so I think—"

"So Buffy," Caroline says, shooting a glare at Faith before coming back to smile at the blonde who looks incredibly uncomfortable. "Do you go to school with Faith?"

"Yes," Buffy says, her eyes glancing to look over at Faith who's mocking her mother under her breath. At least she was… until Caroline's hand connects with Faith's stomach, making her cough a little. Caroline doesn't stop smiling at Buffy though.

"Do you have any classes together?"

"History," Buffy says, still looking at the shot in her hand like she doesn't know what to make of it.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Mum! Stop with the third degree. Shit," Faith snaps, then looks over at Buffy almost pleadingly, "You gonna do your shot?" She needs more liquor to keep her from strangling her mother.

"Here," Buffy says, handing it to Faith who downs it immediately. Buffy clears her throat a little before answering Caroline's question, "And no… I did, but we broke up a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Caroline says, frowning a little. "A girlfriend?"

Faith chokes on her own breath. "Mum!" she exclaims. "Okay, time to go," she says, pushing her mother off the bed and towards the door.

"But Fai, I was just—"

"Leaving," Faith finishes for her with a pointed look as she guides her mother through the threshold. "Will you stop trying to embarrass me? What the hell is wrong with you? How high are you right now?" Faith snaps quietly when she's out of earshot from Buffy.

"Sorry for taking an interest in your life, Fai," Caroline snaps. "But I think you could do with having a nice girl like Buffy in your life. She seems very… normal. And she's very pretty," she tells her with a smile.

Faith rolls her eyes. "I'm not looking for a girlfriend, okay? Just… stay out, seriously. And quit doing so much fuckin' coke. You're high as a kite right now and it's not exactly something I want you to show the world," Faith says quietly, angry, then steps away and closes the door before Caroline can say anything else. She turns to Buffy who's just standing there looking even more uncomfortable by the second.

"Sorry," Faith mumbles. "She's just… she's like that."

"It's okay," Buffy says, giving her a shy smile before taking a step back. "I should, um…"

"Go? Probably. She might try to come back," Faith says with a sigh. God, the last thing she needed right now was her mother trying to set her up with a girl she… she…

How does she feel about Buffy?

"I'll see you on Monday," Buffy says with a smile as she opens the door. Then she corrects herself, "Well, unless Giles makes us come in for more training tomorrow."

"Probably tomorrow then," Faith says with a smirk. Buffy giggles a little, looking just as embarrassed as Faith's feeling right now about the whole ordeal.

"Bye," Buffy says softly, before walking out the door.

"Later, B."

The door closes behind Buffy and Faith sighs, flopping down on the bed and putting her head in her hands. She wants to try to figure out what the hell is going on; why she's hitting on Buffy, why she makes her pissed off all the time, why the hell she even cared what her mother was saying… but she's too drunk right now.

So instead she passes out, hoping that everything she was feeling tonight was only happening because of the liquor.

Chapter Fourteen - Cleaning Up the Mess

Faith is in a freaking sundress.

Where the hell her mother found this monstrosity is beyond her, but yesterday she presented it to her with a big smile and the request that she wear it for church this morning. Of course there was the sarcastic comments, the raised eyebrow, and the clear look of distaste on her lips at the sight of it, but after a lot of persuasion and a bit of crying on her Mum's part because of "how important it is that she look nice"… Faith relented.

Tears are Faith's weakness, obviously. It's like cheating. She swears people pass that info around like a freakin' memo or something.

She stands in her bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. The soft green compliments her complexion well, but she still feels like a freak in it. She lets out a breath, sighing a bit as she smoothes out the dress with her hands; it wasn't as clingy as she would have normally liked, even for a dress. She feels like such a girl in this thing.

Not that she's butch, cause she's not. Not really. Just cause she knows a thing or two about cars and can kick a lotta ass don't make her the type to shave her head.

Faith runs her fingers through her hair as she turns away from the mirror, figuring this is the closest she's gonna get to lookin' "nice." Walking into her bedroom she looks at the alarm clock, figuring she has about ten minutes before she needs to go check to see if her mother's ready. She collapses on her bed heavily, arms spread as she looks up at the ceiling.

She feels so stupid. For so many damn reasons.

The silence of the room is pierced by the shrill ring of her room phone. She groans and grabs a pillow, putting it over her head and covering her ears. She's not answering that.

She's been avoiding Giles' calls since yesterday morning. She knew he wanted her to come in and train with Buffy, but after Friday night that hasn't exactly been high on the list of things she wants to do. Not cause of the drunk innuendos and the little up close and personal they had against the wall. Nah, that shit didn't matter and she's not embarrassed by it. Actually, more points if B's the one embarrassed about it, which she probably will be.

No, why she's avoiding Buffy has nothing to do with that. It has to do with how much of a mind fuck the night ended up giving her.

Faith gets being horny. She was drunk, was filled to the fuckin' brim with adrenaline from the fight and running from the cops. Any sane person in that situation would wanna dry hump the nearest bitch, right? Obviously. It's like human instinct or something. It's a situation that gets your blood pumpin' and your heart racing and the easiest thing to do to calm the storm is to fuck the hell outta someone till you burst. Buffy was just… she just happened to be there during all of that.

But that's the problem, isn't it? Buffy being there. She's Buffy fucking Summers, the girl who took being a Slayer away from her, the girl who's pretty much taken her Watcher from her too. She's hording in on her friends and pissing her off all the god damn time with her high and mighty attitude and that huge stick up her ass. She shouldn't want to fuck her, even for a minute. She shouldn't be able to just let all of that go just because her pussy needs a fix.

She also really shouldn't have actually liked spending time with her that night. Well, until things got awkward with her Mum, anyway.

But she did. Maybe it was cause she was drunk… whatever. Liquor is the world's biggest fucking excuse. Probably also the most bullshit excuse, but since everyone uses it, everyone accepts it when other people give it to them or they give it to themselves. But yeah, right now she'll blame it on the liquor. She'll blame it on the liquor that she noticed how pretty Buffy is when she smiles. She'll blame it on the liquor that she liked the way she could make her blush. She'll blame it on the fuckin' liquor that she had fun tormenting her and she'll definitely blame it on the liquor that she noticed how Buffy seemed to like it too.

Yeah, Buffy complained. She didn't want to be picked on for her lack of sexual expertise and her virginal state (fuck she hopes she really isn't a virgin), but she egged her on. She pushed Faith's buttons just as much as Faith pushed hers and she loved every minute of it. Maybe it was some kind of sick game they started playing; fucking with each other just because they could. Pissing each other off cause it was fun to see the other get all riled up about it.

Or maybe that's just Faith. And maybe she's just really fucked in the head that she likes that sort of shit. Either way.

But that's what bothers her. That. Not the shit that happened in the alley, the stuff after. It gives her a mind fuck and a half how she found herself being happy when she was bantering with Buffy. Happy. How screwed up is that?

Maybe that's supposed to be some sort of sign like 'Hey, lookie here, Faith. You can have some kind of really screwed up friendship with this girl.' Maybe it's something else. She doesn't know. She doesn't wanna know, hence the avoidance.

She shouldn't want to be near a girl who drives her fucking insane. Yet she does. So the plan? Stay as far away as possible. It's probably not gonna work out all that great, what with impending doom and whatever the fuck's about to rain shit on their heads, but it's a good enough plan to start, right? It works for this weekend anyway.

Faith's been trying to clear her head, but it ain't working out so well. Maybe if the stupid fucking phone stopped ringing it might help— fuck, finally it stopped.

"What's that ringing? Do I have a tumor?"

Faith snorts a little as she laughs, that line from a movie coming into her head. It's what she feels like sometimes. She's gotta have a fucking tumor if this is where her heads at: all kinds of fucked up. Sometimes she wishes she could get high; just say fuck it and forget about everything and everyone. But then she looks at her mother and knows that's just a cop out. A simple solution to a more complicated problem that's gonna do more hurt than good in the end.

And really, the last thing Faith needs is to end up being a junkie on top of it all. She might not be worth a lot, but she's worth more than that. She has to be.

Fuck Buffy. Fuck Destiny. Fuck the whole Slayer thing right now. She just needs to deal with herself; with her own life. Buffy's just complicating it.

But what else is new?

Faith sighs as she gets off her bed, deciding to go check to see if her mother's ready. She crosses the room to the door and opens it, hoping to just get this whole Catholic thing outta her Mum's system in one go. Cause come on, church is boring as all hell. Or heaven, whatever. Probably shouldn't compare church to hell.

But when she opens the door, church seems to be the last thing on her mother's mind.

"Mum??" Faith asks, worry coloring her voice as she sees Caroline sitting in the middle of her bed, knees to her chest, naked, as she cradles a bottle of scotch closely as she rocks back and forth. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and she doesn't even acknowledge Faith's presence.

"Mum? Hey… Mum?" Faith asks softly as she comes over to her mother, picking up the comforter which was thrown carelessly on the floor and bringing it up to wrap it around her mother's naked body. "Mum… what's wrong?" She tries to reach for the liquor bottle to take it away from her but Caroline makes a sound of disgruntled disapproval and holds it closer to her. Faith's hand falls to rest at her side.

There's silence for a little while before Caroline's teary eyes lock on Faith, and the brunette watches one tear slide down her cheek slowly. "You look beautiful…" she whispers to her, looking at her daughter in the dress she gave her.

"What's wrong?" Faith repeats, her eyes scanning Caroline's for any sign she might recognize. She wasn't high, that's for sure. Drunk, yeah, but not high.

"I was trying to be good for you," Caroline says softly, then shivers and pulls the covers around her body tighter. Her breathing hitches a bit as she tries not to sob, but her bottom lip shakes her voice comes out strangled as she says, "But I can't handle it anymore…" More tears start to fall.

"What are you talkin' about?"

"I need it, Fai. I need it all the time a-and I can't stop. I… I tried to stop and all it did was make the nightmares more real and I can't…! I can't do this! I-I don't want to be nothing anymore, but that's all I am, I'm nothing…" she cries harder, clutching the liquor close to her before she takes a long swig, coughing a bit as her sobs make it hard to swallow.

"What are you…? Did you…? Oh," Faith says softly, realizing what her mother tried to do. "Mum… how long has it been since you've had any blow?"

Caroline sniffs, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "Y-You yelled at me and you didn't want me to meet your girlfriend cause you were ashamed of me cause I was fucked up and I didn't… I mean, I d-didn't…" the rest of her words come out jumbled as she's crying too hard to make much sense anymore.

Shit. She's gone cold turkey for like thirty six hours. That ain't good.

"Mum, I ain't ashamed of ya, I swear," Faith says softly, sighing as she takes her mother's hand and holds it. "I was just fucked up; drunk. And B is… B's not my girl, Mum. So ya didn't get shoved outta some big moment in my life or nothin'. I was just irritated, it wasn't you. I didn't mean that you should stop like this, y'know you can't quit this way."

Caroline just cries harder and Faith looks at her sadly, upset with herself that she made her Mum go and hurt herself like this.

"Where's your stash? The shit I gave you?"

Caroline points a shaky finger into the bathroom and Faith groans. This ain't good. She flushed it. Fuck. Faith takes a breath, realizing she needs to fix this. "Alright, look, lemme go out and meet your dealer, okay? I'll go get ya some more. Promise." Caroline nods slowly, sniffing a little as she pulls the covers up to her chin. Faith lets go of her hand and turns to the bedside table, getting her mother's wallet to get some money out. Once she has it, she looks back at her. "Rest, yeah? I'll be back soon." Caroline nods again, silently, and Faith gets up and makes her way out the door as she shoves a couple twenties in her bra.

This ain't gonna be fun. She hates when she's the one that's gotta go to Larry. He's a nasty little sleazeball who doesn't understand the meaning of the word "jailbait."

But when she opens the door she comes face to face with Buffy, who seems to be standing outside of her door. Faith blinks and closes her mother's door behind her and Buffy turns, looking a bit taken aback from Faith suddenly being next to her.

"Oh, hi," she says quickly, shuffling her feet a little. Faith raises an eyebrow suspiciously, trying to look nonchalant even though her heart started going a million miles an hour. Damnit, obviously avoidance is a bust. Buffy looks at her, eyes sweeping down her form as she takes in the younger girl.

"You look… really nice," Buffy says with surprise, noting her dress.

Faith chooses not to respond to that. Fuck this dress. "What's with the stalking?"

"I wasn't stalking!" Buffy insists, though looks wicked uncomfortable. "I was just… Giles was worried and he told me to—"

"See if I was still alive and kickin'? Well you can tell him I am," Faith interrupts dismissively, turning to walk away from her. But of course Buffy follows her. Faith tries to ignore her, the best she can.

"No, I know, but there's a warrant out for your arrest for assault, Faith. Willow searched their database and Cordelia filed a report that night. We didn't know if the police…" she trails off, and Faith stops short, sighing a bit before she turns to face her.

"Well as you can see, I'm five by five. Now if ya don't mind, I got places to be."

"You shouldn't be walking around when the cops are looking for you," Buffy tells her quietly.

"They ain't lookin' too hard. I'm home."

Buffy rolls her eyes, putting a hand on her hip. "Well they don't know where you live. The school has false records and your mother booked you guys under a different name."

"How the fuck do you know that?" Faith asks, getting defensive. She steps in Buffy's personal space, staring her down. She doesn't need this bitch to know her business.

"Willow," Buffy says, like it's obvious. She narrows her eyes at Faith's intrusive behavior but doesn't move forward nor back down. "Look, just lay low for a little while, until we can figure out how to get rid of it."

"Didn't ask you to clean up my messes, Blondie."

"I know that, and it doesn't matter if you ask or not – I am."

"Why?" Faith scoffs, looking at her like she's insane. She crosses her arms across her chest. "What the hell do you get out of it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Buffy snaps sarcastically, obviously getting fed up with Faith's attitude towards her. "Maybe you not in jail? You can't exactly help us out in there."

"Like you give a fuck."

"Obviously I do! Damn, Faith. What's your problem? Why are you so grumpy today?" Buffy asks her, looking at her like she's being a huge bitch. Maybe she is. But whatever.

"Just not in the mood for bullshit pleasantries."

"Yeah, cause this is so pleasant," Buffy says dryly. Faith just turns away from her, trying to end this unhelpful bit of interaction, but Buffy's hand grabs her arm, sending tingles through her skin. "Wait."

"What?" Faith asks flatly, not turning to look at her.

Buffy doesn't say anything for a minute and that makes Faith finally turn her head to look at her. "You're… you're going to be at school tomorrow, right?"

"Not if the pigs are lookin' for me. You know Queen C will have them on speed dial the moment I show my face."

"I'll take care of it."

"I said I don't need you to fight my battles, B."

"I know, but I… will. Just come to school tomorrow, please?" Buffy asks softly. She still hasn't taken her hand off of Faith's arm and it's making her feel weird so she shrugs her off.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever," she relents, just to get her outta here. She doesn't need her around.

Buffy looks down at the ground for a moment and Faith takes that as her cue to leave. She gets all of about five steps before Buffy calls out to her, "Just be careful."

Faith can feel the tug of her lips as a smile threatens to escapes. She looks over her shoulder. "I'm cool, Twinkie. Grew up in South Boston; ya learn how to avoid the 5-0 pretty quickly." Buffy nods, smiling a little at her shyly. The urge to walk over there and kiss her pretty fuckin' lips hits Faith in the face like a god damn freight train and she turns and walks away from her as quickly as humanly possible.

Fuck. That can't be good. Gotta be some kind of after effect of the liquor; like way after. Or maybe she's just insane, that could also be a factor. Whatever it is, it ain't good and she really needs to get her head back on straight.

Well, as straight as a lesbian can get, anyway. Ha. Yeah, she amuses herself.

Larry lives a little ways down the street and when she gets there she goes to the backdoor automatically. The little shit for a dog he has barks at her and she flips it off before rapping on the door with her knuckle. She leans against the house as she waits.

A moment later the paranoid bastards asks, "Who dat?"

"Faith."

The door opens and Larry smiles at her with his crooked grin. Faith tries to keep her face neutral as she fights the urge to throw up. The mother fucker is the damn definition of a 'Class A' douchebag. Leering Larry is what she calls him in her head, cause that's all he fuckin' does at her.

"Faith, baby," he says as he throws his arm around her shoulder. "Ya finally here ta take me up on my offer of a good time? Cause it still stands, mama." He fingers a strap on her dress and says, "Diggin' the girly look. Special occasion or ya tryin' to look pretty for me?"

Faith curls up her lip in distaste and she pushes his arm off of her. She wishes people would fuck off about the damn dress. "I ain't here to play games, Double L. I need a gram." She pulls out the money from her cleavage and slaps it down on the counter, keeping her hand on it though as she looks at him expectantly. He just looks at her, amused by being turned down for the millionth time and she cocks and eyebrow. "Like, yesterday," she finishes, trying to stress the importance.

"All business then? S'Cool, brotha's gotta pay the bills," Larry says. Faith tries like hell not to roll her eyes. This dude's picture should be under the word 'wigger' in the dictionary. "But ya holla at me if ya ever need to find yaself ridin' a real man 'stead of whatever the fuck little boys you're pickin' up."

"Yeah. Boys," Faith says sarcastically. She sighs in annoyance. "Look, ya got it or not? My Mum's freakin' so I'd appreciate it if we could skip tea time and small talk."

"You're a hot thing when you're all riled up, aren't ya?" Larry says with a laugh as he smirks. "Yeah, got what ya need. Hold on a sec, mama." He disappears into the other room and Faith has the urge to take a good long shower after this. His house is disgusting; bastard's probably always too damn high to clean it properly. He should take up meth, at least the place would be spotless then and he'd croak a whole lot sooner.

When Larry comes back he hands her the baggie and she looks at it carefully. She frowns, annoyed. It's clearly lacking in size. "What the fuck is this? You tryin' the jack me now?"

"Nah girl, this shit's eighty five pure. Better than the other crap I was gettin' that was seventy. Trust me; it'll fuck your mom up good an' nice. You can test if ya think I'm pullin' bullshit."

"You know I don't touch this shit," Faith says flatly, but she stuffs it in her bra and slides the money towards him. "But if you're sellin' me crap then you best believe I'll come back and put your fuckin' head in the wall."

"Chill mamacita, would I fuck over one of my best customers?"

Faith arches an eyebrow at him, but steps away. "We'll see," is all she says before she turns towards the door.

"Come back anytime, sexy," he says with a hint of a leer in his voice and she knows he's checking out her ass as she walks out the door. She flips him off over her shoulder and she can hear his low chuckle as she leaves, the door banging lightly behind her. The stupid dog starts barking up a storm again and she kicks at it, not connecting, but makin' the damn thing back the hell off before she walks back down the street.

She doesn't get to be Faith the Vampire Slayer; she gets to be Faith the Drug Runner.

Fuck she hates her life.

Chapter Fifteen - Super Creeptastic Stalker Boy

The first thing Faith did when she got to school was stroll through the library doors, figuring she might as well get Giles lecture about duty and destiny over with. She knows it was wrong to ignore him, but she had a reason, damnit. Not like that one worked out very well either though with Buffy showing up at her freakin' door.

Sometimes she doesn't know why she tries. Seriously.

"Ah, Faith," Giles says noticing her arrival. He hurriedly put away some books he was leafing through to give her his attention. "I—"

Faith puts up her hand. "I know, I know. Duty and destiny. I shoulda been here, I'm a fuck up, I got it."

"What?" Giles asks, confused for a moment. He blinks. "Oh, yes, quite right. Not to you being a… well, I was regarding that you weren't here. But I do understand why you chose not to show."

Faith blinks. "You do?"

Giles sighs a little, taking off his glasses to clean them with a handkerchief. "Faith, I must apologize for my behavior lately. I know it may seem that I've been favoring Buffy over you because she is the Slayer, but that isn't true."

Faith just stares at him.

"I've been thoughtless towards your feelings in all of this. I know you have the utmost desire to become Chosen and Buffy being around can't be easy for you." He replaces his glasses, giving her a small smile before he puts a hand on her shoulder. "But I am very proud of you, Faith. You are a very strong willed young woman and you have been dealing with this situation a lot better than I would have expected. If you do become the Slayer one day, I dare say that the Powers would have chosen very wisely."

To say Faith is surprised would be the understatement of the century. She's shocked like hell, but it makes her feel good and she smiles big. "Thanks, G."

Faith never actually realized how much she needed to hear him say that until right then. Yeah, she's been a moody bitch for the last couple of days, she's had a lot of shit she's had to deal with, but most of it has been aimed at Buffy, or hell, just about Buffy. It's really fuckin' annoying how so quickly Faith's life seems to revolve around one small, annoying, sexy, irritating little blonde.

Yeah, she realizes the word sexy slipped in there. Whatever.

Point? She's been so fucked up over Buffy and how angry she's been making her that she didn't even realize that Giles was pissing her off too, mainly because it's been about how he's been with Buffy and, well, when you throw Buffy in the mix it's apparently all that she can focus on.

There should be medication for this type of problem.

"That's so romantic," Willow says wistfully as she comes into the library with Buffy. She's got this far away dreamy look in her eye and Buffy's smiling shyly. It makes Faith's eyebrow arch up and not in the curious way.

"I dunno Will, I mean he—" then she stops as she takes one look at Faith and falls silent.

"No no, B. Don't stop on account of me. Let's all hear about your new Mr. Wonderful," Faith says, annoyance in her voice for a reason she probably doesn't want to analyze. Buffy blushes and mumbles something to the floor.

"Since this conversation doesn't pertain to me, I'm going to—" Giles starts, but is interrupted by Willow.

"Buffy met some guy in the graveyard last night, a-all dark and mysterious and heroic," Willow tells Faith, her mind clearly off in some lame romantic movie scenario.

"There was a man out while you were patrolling?" Giles asks Buffy, obviously now including himself in the conversation.

"He… well, I mean, I was fighting these three vampires last night and everything was good. I was kicking butt, they were going poof, but then one of them got the upper hand and—"

"And all of a sudden this big, handsome man comes out of nowhere and saves her!" Willow interrupts, excited.

"I wouldn't say 'saved me'," Buffy says, a little too defensively. "I totally had it under control. He just… helped out when one vampire got a little too up close and personal with my neck."

"Buffy, who was this man?" Giles asks, sounding concerned.

Buffy looks annoyed. "Thank you, Giles. I'm fine," she says sarcastically.

Giles looks flustered. "Sorry. You're… alright?"

"As much as can be expected. I have a couple cracked ribs though. I think that merits a cookie, don't you?" Buffy asks with a smirk.

"I could wrap your ribs if—"

"When I got injured Merrick used to give me cookies to make me feel better," Buffy says with a pout, but the tone in her voice is all bullshit and she looks amused. Her super healing has already kicked in and she obviously can barely feel them anymore. Giles sighs.

"Yeah G, I think we should get cookies when we get our ass kicked," Faith says, smirking at how frustrated Giles is getting by the sarcastic comments.

"Since your ribs don't seem to be in any kind of deliberating condition… the man?" Giles asks, trying to switch the subject. "Are you saying he is aware of the supernatural occurrences that go on at night in Sunnydale?"

"Well he wasn't wigged by the vamps in dire need of a facial, no."

"Did he say anything?"

Buffy shrugs, leaning against the counter next to Faith. Faith tries not to look at her. "I said thanks, asked him who he was. He said it wasn't important and that I should be more careful. I can't believe he had the nerve to lecture me after he was the one being all super creeptastic stalker boy."

"Yeah, sounds real romantic, B. Wish I had a stalker," Faith says dryly. Buffy looks over at her before rolling her eyes a little bit.

"Willow was the one who said it was romantic."

"I-It is! Don't you think it is, Faith? I mean he's all dark and mysterious, coming out only in times to save the pretty girl from the monsters…" she's doing the whole dreamy faraway look again.

"I'm a dyke, Red. Ain't lookin' for no prince to come save my ass, that's for damn sure."

Willow gives her a disapproving look at her vile choice of word regarding her sexuality.

"Hey! So totally wasn't in need of saving here! And it was only once. And yes he may be… dark and mysterious and very… attractive, but missing the big picture here: he knew my name," Buffy says.

"He knew your name?" Giles says, sounding alarmed.

"Another point in the stalker column," Faith states.

The library doors open again and Xander strolls in, looking at the four of them. "Hey guys, what'd I miss?" he asks, seeing the mixed looks on all of their faces.

"B's got herself a stalker."

Xander's eyes go wide.

"He's not my—!" Buffy starts to protest, but finishes with, "Ugh. Whatever. Besides, he said I'd probably never see him again anyway."

"Yeah, cause he's hiding out in the bushes behind your house lookin' through your bedroom window while he jacks himself off."

"Ew!" Buffy exclaims in horror and slaps Faith's arm. Hard.

"OW! Fuck, B!"

"Sorry." She doesn't sound very sorry, so Faith turns around and punches her in the arm. Buffy barely even flinches, but she does glare at her.

"Girls, please," Giles says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Buffy, it concerns me that there is an unknown man out there that not only knows your name but also knows of the on goings in Sunnydale at night."

"He didn't give me the wiggins though," Buffy tells him. "I mean, I can kind of feel when people or things are… bad."

"You can? You never told me that. I need to write that down later. Will you stay after class and explain it to me in depth?" Giles asks, going into geek mode as he gets his diary or whatever the hell it is. Buffy sighs, knowing she opened the door to that mess.

"Sure," she says, defeated. "Why not? I don't have a life."

"So let me get this straight…" Xander starts, looking at Buffy. "Some guy knows your name, knows about demons, and is hiding under out behind your bushes and you don't think that screams restraining order?"

"Oh! Oh my god!" Willow exclaims, starting everyone. "Faith! Cordelia! What are you—"

"Faith's fine, Cordelia dropped the charges, and Xander he isn't hiding out behind my house!" Buffy exclaims, annoyed.

"That you know of," Faith says with a smirk. It warrants another slap to her arm to which Faith retaliates with another punch, making her forget about asking Buffy how she knows that Cordelia dropped them, and why. "Fuck, if you bruised me I'm going to kill you."

"Hey, I slapped you and you punched me!" Buffy defends.

"You're stronger than I am!"

"Girls!" Giles exclaims. "Please stop. And Faith, what is this about charges being filed against you?" He sounds angry, in that disappointed father type tone that Faith hates. She promptly looks at the ground and mumbles something to her shoes.

"Translation: Faith assaulted Cordelia at the Bronze on Friday," Buffy says. Faith looks up and shoots her a glare.

"What are you, aiming for fuckin' brownie points now?"

"Faith!" Giles exclaims, even angrier now. "We've talked about this! Violence isn't the answer to everything. That was a terribly reckless thing for you to do. There are more important things at stake now than your teenage ego." Faith looks embarrassed. She hates when he lectures her, especially in front of everyone.

"That's what I said," Buffy says, with a little 'ha' look on her face. Faith looks at her dangerously.

"You're fuckin' askin' for it, Blondie."

"What are you going to do?" Buffy says, amused by her threat.

"Buffy, stop taunting Faith. You know she has anger issues and we have also already discussed you fueling them. I would appreciate if you, both of you, could be more mature," Giles says. Now Buffy looks embarrassed for being lectured too. Faith looks amused that for once she isn't taking all the heat.

"Ohhh, someone's in trouble," Xander taunts under his breath, amused, and both Buffy and Faith shoot him a look that could kill and he falls silent, stepping back behind Willow for protection.

Willow rolls her eyes and shoves him lightly.

"Moving on," Giles says, looking at them all like he was daring for any one of them to start acting out again. "This man… he didn't tell you his name, correct?"

"Nope. He just kinda swooped in, helped make the bumps in the night become less bumpy, was all 'man of few words', then left."

"Well, keep an eye out for him, will you? He may be a white hat but he could also be something else, and that's what concerns me."

"Like a pimple?" Xander asks, confused.

"White hat not white head," Willow explains. "M-Meaning he could be one of the good guys."

"Oh."

Faith snickers. Giles looks at Xander like he should study more.

"Right. Anyway, girls, after school today we'll be training with the crossbow. And Faith, this time, please try not to impale my bookshelves."

Buffy laughs and Faith throws her a look. "Hey, some of us don't come equipped with freakishly good aim."

"Be that as it may, I know once you set your mind to something you can accomplish it," Giles tells her. "I am also hoping that you can learn these feats quickly, seeing as I would like to take you out slaying with Buffy one night."

Faith's eyes go wide and she gets excited. "Really?!"

"Yes, really. Though you are not a Slayer, I think it would be wise to prepare you in battle, and with Buffy and I there to help I think it would be much safer than if you had to learn on a whim under surprise circumstances," Giles tells her.

"Maybe you can stake your first vampire," Buffy says with a smile, suddenly warming up to her. That's one thing Faith doesn't get about Buffy. They can be bickering one minute and the next she's all… wanting to be friend-type whatever girl.

Faith idly remembers when she was trying to convince Buffy that hating each other would be better. Obviously that plan got shot to hell and back.

"Hey, I've staked one already," Faith defends. "The one that freaked you out wicked bad when you were still a Slayer wannabe, actually."

"How do you know about that?" Buffy asks, horrified. Then she rounds on Giles accusingly, pointing. "How does she know about that?"

The bell rings.

"Ah, the bell," Giles says, avoiding the question as he busies himself. "You all should be off to class."

Faith was about to say something like 'saved by the bell', but realizes how cheesy that sounds before she opened her mouth, thankfully.