Chapter 13 - My Lazy Saturday
“Faith, what time do your parents expect you home?” Joyce asks and takes a small sip of coffee. She’s on one side of the island and the two girls are on the other. She has to take another sip of coffee to hide her small smile. ‘Do they think I can’t tell they’re holding hands?’ she silently wonders. ‘If it were anymore obvious they’d be doing it in plain view.’ She doesn’t say anything to the girls about their ‘secret hand holding’. If they want to feel sneaky about something then she’ll let them feel sneaky.
“Not ‘til late. I usually stay out on the weekends,” Faith answers and takes a bite of her homemade waffles. ‘If making out with a hot blonde, and getting free homemade waffles is what I get for spending the night here then I’ll be over here every weekend. No. Make that everyday.’ Even though it’s the first real meal she’s had in a long time she doesn’t eat fast, or act like it’s a big deal. ‘No use drawing attention to myself.’
“Oh,” Joyce says and sets her mug down on the tiled top. “What do you usually do?” Faith tries not to blush, and the fact that her body wants to blush is new to her. She usually isn’t self-conscious about her night life, but this time it’s different because she plans on sticking around. It’s a lot harder not to care what someone thinks of you when you are going to be around them more. So she goes with the fastest answer possible.
“There’s this little club called the Bronze. It’s one of those places where they put a stamp on your hand if you’re under twenty-one, but it’s pretty cool, I guess. A lot of kids from school hang out there, and some people from UC Sunnydale.” ‘Oh crap. Please tell me I didn’t just set my own trap. Please, please, please.’ Sorry, but you so totally just did.
“College kids? You hang out with college kids?” the older of the Summers women asks. Buffy casts a little glare at her mother because she can feel how uncomfortable Faith is with this conversation. She knows her mother is prying and trying to get some details on Faith’s sex life. ‘And that’s none of her business. If anyone is going to pry into Faith’s sex life it’s me, the soon to be girlfriend. So Mom can just back off.’
“Sometimes. I don’t go out of my way to be around them, but if a cute guy asks me to dance then I’ll dance with him.” ‘Fuck, shouldn’t have said that in front of Buffy. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck. Fuck!’ “And then when things get boring I go home.” ‘Liar. Ok, but they don’t need to know what really happens. That’s none of their business.’ She takes a small sip of her milk and tries to calm down. She has two curious blondes looking at her like she’s a weak gazelle and they’re lions about to strike. But she ignores it and finishes her waffle.
“Are you all done?” Buffy asks and looks down at the empty plate. Faith nods her head while she chews the very large bite. “You can get a shower if you want. I have some clothes that might fit you.” Faith nods her head again and finishes chewing. She swallows the large bite of waffle that was drizzled in syrup, and then chugs down the rest of the milk. “There’s an extra toothbrush in the cabinet under the sink. It’s brand new, still in the package even. I’ll leave the clothes on my bed.” ‘Ok, why does it feel like I was just dismissed?’ Faith asks herself and gets up from the stool. ‘Probably because I was. That was weird.’ When she leaves the room, Buffy looks over to her mother with a very irritated look on her face.
“Gee, Mom, could you have interrogated her anymore or do you want me to go get a table lamp to shine in her face?” The attitude coming from the blonde is almost palpable and Joyce is instantly irritated. She puts her coffee mug back on the counter top after taking a generous sip and gives Buffy a very disapproving look.
“Excuse me young lady, but have you forgotten that you’re supposed to be grounded?” she asks and puts a hand on her hip. “You’re lucky I let her stay at all. She can stay for lunch and dinner, but that’s it. She’s not spending the night here again, and after today you’re going back on groundation.” ‘Is that even a word?’ she wonders to herself. ‘I doubt it, but does it matter?’ “Now, go put those clothes out for Faith, and come right back downstairs, do you understand me?” Buffy nods her head and leaves the room.
‘Why does she have to be so strict all the time?’ she thinks as she stomps up the stairs. She walks towards her bedroom but then stops in front of the bathroom door. ‘Faith is inside their, completely naked with water running down her body.’ She can feel her body heating up again and she is instantly irritated with herself. ‘Are you trying to drive yourself nuts? Just get the clothes put on the bed and go downstairs.’
She walks into her bedroom and opens up the middle dresser drawer. She rummages through the clothes until she finds what she’s looking for. They’re two shirts that are three sizes too big and they’re usually worn as nightshirts in the summer when it’s too hot to wear her normal pajamas. ‘Ok, should I put out the one with dolphins and be nice? Or should I make her wear the unicorn one? Hmm, I think I’ll go with unicorn.’ She lays the pink shirt down on the bed and smiles evilly to herself. Then she grabs a pair of jean cutoffs that will show off Faith’s legs very nicely and lays them next to the shirt.
She scampers off downstairs and waits for Faith in the living room. Her mother said she didn’t have to get dressed so she isn’t going to. She would have laid out some more pajamas for Faith, but the other girl does have to go home sometime today and it can’t be in her dress. She listens very closely to the goings on upstairs as she flips through the channels. She hears the shower shut off and then the faucet of the sink running.
‘Must be brushing her teeth.’ After a few minutes she hears the footsteps going from the bathroom to her bedroom, and then nothing. ‘Maybe I should go check on her?’ she asks herself but then decides against it. ‘I might walk in on her changing and even though I thought I was ready for more I’m totally not, and seeing a semi-naked Faith would definitely be too much right now.’ Then she hears a loud thud come from upstairs and she jumps up. ‘Did she fall down?’
“I’m ok!” she hears Faith call out. ‘Oh my God, why did she fall down?’ Buffy looks over at the living room doorway when she sees her mother walk out of the dining room. Joyce has a questioning look on her face and Buffy can only shrug her shoulders in response to it. ‘I have no idea what she’s doing up there. She could be practicing for cheerleading tryouts for all I know. Oh God, Faith in a cheerleading outfit.’ She lets that mental image roll around in her mind for a minute or two and tries not to smile. ‘I can’t wait for Halloween!’
“What happened?” Joyce asks when they see Faith walking down the stairs. Buffy waits a little impatiently for her to answer. But then she lets her eyes wander down the other girl’s body and she forgets all about the question her mother asked. All she can focus on are Faith’s legs. The cutoffs are a lot shorter on the taller girl then she thought they were going to be, so most of the slightly muscular legs are on display for her to see. ‘God, her skin looks so soft, I wonder if her whole body is like that?’
“Well, uh,” Faith says and tries not to blush. ‘What are these people doing to me? I never used to blush before. “The shorts and I had a bit of a disagreement. I wanted to put them on and they didn’t want me to.” Both Summers women try not to laugh as Faith stands next to them. Wanting to get out of the embarrassing situation she changes the subject. She looks Buffy and nods her head towards the living room. “Anything good on TV?” Buffy decides to cut the brunette some slack.
“Not really. Unless like Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry.” She watches as Faith get a look on her face like she’s offended by the statement. ‘Ok, what did I say? Why does she still have that look on her face?’ She tries not to show her confusion too much because she really doesn’t want to give in to the stereotype that all blondes are dumb.
“Who doesn’t like Looney Tunes?” Faith asks and smiles a little bit. She could tell that Buffy was trying to fight off the confused look, but it wouldn’t be completely denied. ‘Does she have any idea who fuckin cute she is? I think we’ve already been over this haven’t we?’ She takes Buffy by the hand and they walk into the living room together. They sit down on the couch and while Faith laughs as Foghorn Leghorn grabs the barnyard dog by the tail and spanks him with a paddle, Buffy is too busy watching Faith’s facial expressions to pay attention to the TV.
“So, is there anything else I need to know about you?” she asks and turns to the side a little so she face the brunette a little more. “I mean, you’re nothing like I expected you to be, which is a good thing because unfortunately my opinion was based on what I’d heard at school. You turn out to be really sweet, and kind, and you climb up to my bedroom window like Romeo or something, and you like Looney Tunes. And here I was expecting a badass chick who’d probably get me in trouble.” Faith smiles a little bit, but it’s a mischievous smile and Buffy can’t help but be a little afraid.
“Well, I am a total badass, don’t ever forget that,” she says with that smile still on her face. “Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean I’m not. And as far as getting you in trouble.” She leans in a little closer and brings her hand up to Buffy’s unhurt cheek. “I did get you grounded for three months, didn’t I?” She leans in to kiss Buffy and the blonde girls seems almost hypnotized. But right before Faith’s lips touches hers the blonde pulls back and almost has a small panic attack.
“I’m sorry, but I need to brush my teeth.” Faith chuckles a little and watches as Buffy runs from the room and books it up the stairs. ‘She didn’t mind this morning. Probably ‘cause my breath was just as bad as hers.’ In record time the blonde gets her teeth brushed and runs back down the stairs and plops down on the couch next to the other girl, who’s smiling at her with a little amusement.
“I forgot all about this cartoon,” Buffy says as she watches Bugs Bunny try to open the locked door, and a large red monster like creature stands behind him, preparing to grab the rabbit and do God knows what to him. “What is that big red thing called? Does he even have a name?” ‘If she likes Looney Tunes so much she should know the name. At least I hope ‘cause I don’t want her to think I’m being an ass.’
“Gossamer,” Faith says and very subtly scoots towards Buffy. Their thighs touch and Buffy’s eyes are drawn from the TV to the darker haired girl who’s concentrating on the TV just a little too hard. ‘She’s trying to be sneaky about it. Well, I guess I’ll let her be sneaky.’ She looks back at the TV and pretends to watch the cartoon as Bugs gives a manicure to the large creature and it turns out there’s mousetraps in the bowl of water. ‘How did those get in there?’ the blonde wonders. Then she feels an arm very slowly sneak its way around her lower back.
“Ya know,” she says. ‘I was going to let her be sneaky, but what’s the fun in that?’ “If you want to cuddle all you have to do is ask.” She looks over at the brunette who has a small smile on her face. She returns the smile, but it slowly disappears as Faith leans closer until their lips are an inch or two apart.
“And what if it wasn’t cuddling I was after?” she whispers and her hot breath lightly caresses Buffy’s face and the blonde girl whimpers. ‘Oh God, I can’t believe I just did that!’ she thinks in horror, but Faith doesn’t react to the small sound. She can’t really think of anything to say so she lets her mouth take over and leaves as much of her brain out of it as possible.
“Uh, ask and ye shall receive,” she whispers and when her own words reach her ears she tries as hard as she can not to cringe. ‘Did I really just say that? I did. I said that and now I think I’m going to die of embarrassment.’ But Faith doesn’t care what words the blonde uttered. It was an ok to continue and that’s all that matters to her at the moment. She leans forward the rest of the way and her eyes close when her lips touch the soft surface of the blonde’s. The kiss is gentle at first, just the slow movement of lips massaging against each other.
“I wasn’t really supposed to ask, was I?” Faith says when they pull apart for air. She gives Buffy a small smile as the blonde tries to figure out what the heck Faith is talking about. ‘Again with the cute.’ She can’t even go on with her teasing. The cuteness of the blonde has completely distracted her from making the other girl blush. So she kisses her again, and this time it isn’t long before their tongues come out to play. Faith slowly drags the tip of her tongue along the roof of Buffy’s mouth and it makes the blonde girl moan, and whimper and press her body more into Faith’s.
Then they hear the TV shut off and the pull apart. ‘How does she keep doing that? I swear to God every mom has some sort of radar so they can know whenever their daughter is making out with someone.’ Joyce sets the remote control down on the recliner and gives the girls a little smile. She could get upset at the sight of her daughter kissing someone on the living room couch no less, but she decides not to. ‘She’s just growing up, and this is part of it.’
“You were wasting electricity. Buffy, I’d like to think I taught you better then that,” Buffy’s mom says with a sly smile. She leaves the room and goes back into the kitchen to continue reading the latest People magazine. Buffy is completely embarrassed by her mother’s words, and the look she had on her face. ‘Why can’t she just yell at me like a normal mother?’ Faith seems very amused by it however, and her smile couldn’t get any bigger.
“I think I like your mom,” she says and leaves a little kiss on Buffy’s cheek. “She isn’t as tightly wound as all the other moms in Sunnydale.” ‘Oh fuck, way to go Faith, let’s give yourself a big round of applause for that one.’ The best thing to do now is to back paddle and try to make that sentence sound completely innocent. “I mean, most of the moms around here will give a dirty look if they see two people holding hands in public. I guess displays of affection are a big no-no in the Dale.” ‘Ok, I think that’s good enough. Hopefully she won’t kick me out of her house.’
“I can’t really understand why people get so uptight about stuff like that,” Buffy says but she knows that Faith made up the second part just to cover her ass. The look of panic on her face before she started talking was a dead giveaway, but Buffy is choosing to ignore it. ‘When she’s ready to tell me about her past then she’ll tell me.’ “But let’s not think about that now.” She gets a small devilish smile on her face and leaves a little kiss on Faith’s lips.
“Unless you would rather be thinking about uptight, conservative moms instead of kissing me.” She gets a tiny pout on her face and Faith instantly starts sucking on her bottom lip. ‘That’s what I thought. And this pouting thing works better on her then I thought it would. I could so use my powers for evil, but I don’t think I will. Getting her focused on me is good enough. I’m sure the next step would be getting her to agree with me, and I don’t think that step is here yet, so I’ll just enjoy this while it lasts,’ she thinks to herself as the two continue to make out.
Chapter 14 - Her Surprise
The Sunday morning sun shines in through the window and onto the sleeping faces in the bedroom. Two of the girls groan in a little irritation and turn in their beds to find a comfortable position with their faces away from the very annoying light. The motion from one of the beds causes the one below it to move and wake up the slumbering girl. ‘Fuck! I hate bunk beds. This is total bullshit,’ Faith thinks as she’s woken up from a very nice dream featuring the bottled blonde she’s trying so hard to win over.
‘What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you were Buffy’s narrator?’ the sleepy, and very angry girl thinks. ‘No way, fuck this. You’re not gonna follow me around and talk about what I’m doing. This isn’t the real world house. Now fuck off, and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.’ Despite her protest I don’t go away. The blonde one is on groundation now and not happy. There’s only so much verbal abuse a narrator can take.
The irritated brunette closes her eyes and tries to go back to sleep. She can hear the other people in the house getting up to start the day and she knows that sleep isn’t going to be coming back to her any time soon. If she really wanted to you could just ignore it and go back to sleep, but the trouble she would have to go through isn’t worth it. ‘This is bullshit. Two more years of this shit and I’m getting the fuck outta here.’
She hears the bedroom door creep open, but she doesn’t move. ‘Maybe if I play dead he’ll go away,’ she thinks as she hears the tiny footsteps walking towards her. ‘If I was on the top bunk this shit wouldn’t be happening. Maybe I can kick Amy’s ass out of it. Then I’ll get to sleep in one of these fuckin days. This whole sleeping here thing is driving me crazy.’ She tries so hard not to move when she feels the tiny breaths fall against her face, and she tries so hard not to smile when she feels a tiny finger poke one of her closed eyes.
“Faith,” the tiny voice whispers. But she stays still playing dead hoping against all odds that it will work. “Faith.” He pokes her again in the eye, and this time a little harder. “Faith, wake up. It’s morning time. Faith, get up.” The little boy pinches Faith’s nostrils closed, and because she isn’t expecting the move she panics and sits up as fast as she can, hitting her head on the bed above her.
“Fuck! Motherfucker!” she yells and grabs the top of her head. She presses down a little and then looks at her hand, checking for blood, but she doesn’t see any. She looks over at the little boy and he looks on the brink of tears. “Tanner don’t cry. I wasn’t yelling at you.” She picks the small boy up and gives him a hug. When she sits him down on the bed he doesn’t look upset anymore. “There, that’s better. No more cryin, ok?” He nods his head and she wipes the tears away that started to make their way down his cheeks.
“Would you shut the fuck up? I’m trying to sleep,” Amy says from the top bunk and rolls onto her stomach, trying to get comfortable again. Faith gets off her bed and picks the boy up and props him on her hip.
“Fuck you. If you’d let me have the top bunk he wouldn’t come in here to wake me up.” ‘There, now she can think about that. Maybe now she’ll let me have the top.’ She makes her way out of the bedroom and into the living room. She sits the redheaded boy down on the couch and turns the TV on. “There, watch cartoons.” She makes her way into the kitchen and sees the very typical scene. She still isn’t too used to it because it’s rare that she is home in time for breakfast on any day of the week, but she has to admit that this is kind of nice.
The tall brunette woman is making up some bowls of cereal while three of the kids who live in this house sit at the table and wait impatiently for her to finish. The tall, dishwater blonde man is leaning against the counter, drinking his coffee and reading the sports section of the newspaper. They’re ok as far as foster parents go. She still misses her old home even if it wasn’t the best place in the world.
She is lucky to be in this house and she knows it. She’s heard horror stories about kids who get raped and beat by their foster parents, and social services does nothing about it because the workers are too busy to come back every month and check on them like they’re supposed to. The one thing that Faith really hates about this place is the number of people living in it.
There’s Brian who’s ten, Lauren is seven, and Tanner is only two and half. They’re the Doriann’s biological children. Then there are the foster children. Amy, Marcus, Faith, and Natalia. Amy is the oldest, she’ll be eighteen in two weeks. Natalia is the youngest, she just turned thirteen four days ago. Faith and Marcus are both sixteen. It’s very crowded in this house and Faith hates it. It’s always loud, and chaotic and Faith just wants to get away from it most of the time.
“Well, it’s nice to see you up,” Bill says and takes a sip from his coffee. “When did you finally get in last night?” Faith doesn’t answer, she just rolls her eyes and takes her seat at the table. She doesn’t want to talk about this now. She hasn’t told any of them about Buffy and she doesn’t plan on it. They’ll just want to meet her, and the less Buffy knows about Faith’s home life the better. ‘She doesn’t need to know about this shit.’
“Where were you last night?” Bill asks and adds some more sugar to his coffee. ‘Why the fuck does he care? It’s none of his damn business,’ Faith thinks and rests her head on the table. “I asked you a question, and I expect an answer.” ‘Does he always have to be such a dick?’ The man never used to ask Faith about her nightly excursions. He and his wife simply thought that Faith was sneaky out as a way of rebelling, and if they didn’t make a big deal about it she’d see she wasn’t going to get any attention for it and would stop. That isn’t the case however and the parents are starting to get frustrated with Faith’s behavior.
“I was out, alright? Amy goes out all the time and you don’t give her any shit about it.” The large man slams the paper down on the counter, the palm of his hand slaps against the tiled top and makes a loud noise. The coffee maker, and toaster both shake from the impact.
“Watch your mouth,” he barks at her and sets his mug down on the counter. Everyone is too used to this sight. Faith and Bill fight all the time. It’s just what they do. “Amy asks for permission to go out, and she obeys the curfew. Which are two things you’re going to start doing.” Faith stands up from the table and stares into the angry brown eyes looking back at her.
“Screw you, Bill. I don’t have to listen to you, you’re not my dad, and you never will be!” she yells and he takes a step towards her. He would never hit any of the children, he doesn’t even believe in spanking, but the intimidation from his size works on most of them. Faith is not one of them, however, and she holds her ground. He remembers that he’s the adult, and he calms himself down.
“I may not be your dad, but I am responsible for you. If you don’t like it, then oh well. When you turn eighteen you can do whatever you want, but until then you are going to start following my rules. You got that?” Faith doesn’t know what to say. Even if she doesn’t agree with a word the man is saying she doesn’t want to push her luck because he might decide to give her back to social services and she’ll go to a different foster home, or a group home. The thought almost makes her shudder.
“Now, go tell the others breakfast is ready.” Seeing no point in staying in the room and fighting, Faith stomps off. She goes into her bedroom and slams the door, and gets yelled at by the other girls still in their beds. She lays down on her bed and stares at the bottom of the one above her. ‘This is fuckin bullshit. He never used to bug me about this shit. I can’t wait to turn eighteen. Then I won’t have to put up with this bullshit, that’s for sure.’
It’s nightfall before Faith finally leaves the bedroom. She thought about leaving earlier just to get out of the house, but all of her friends are busy this weekend and Buffy is grounded, and that left her with nowhere to go. Hunger finally won out, and the smell of cooked food coming from the kitchen made her stomach growl in protest of just staying in the room. She notices that Amy and Marcus are gone, but she doesn’t think anything of it. They go out together every Sunday as their brother-sister bonding time. But Faith does feel a little pang of longing at the thought of it.
“Faith!” Tanner yells out from his highchair and claps his hands together. Out of everyone in the house the little boys craves her attention the most. She doesn’t know why, and it’s only moderately irritating. Even then it only gets on her nerves in the morning when he wakes her up. Other then that she likes the fact that the little boy wants her around. “Mommy look, Faith’s up!” Everyone at the table looks over at the brunette girl and the feeling of having all their eyes on her is a little odd.
“Glad you finally decided to get up,” Judy says and gets up from the table. “I’ll make you a plate.” Faith tries to protest against it but the woman insists. ‘Well, if she really wants to why stop her?’ She sits down at the table and watches as the woman dishes out some chicken, roasted potatoes, corn, and a roll. All of it looks and smells great, and Faith is glad she didn’t go out. “Look, Faith.” ‘Oh crap, I was wondering when the catch would show itself.’ “We’re not trying to be mean.” She puts the plate down in front of Faith and hands the girl a fork.
“But Bill and I came up with these rules to help keep you guys safe.” ‘Yeah right, they just want to control us.’ “I know it seems unfair, but we need to know where you are so we can get a hold of you in case there’s an emergency or you need to be picked up.” ‘If I needed to be picked up I’d call them and tell them where I am.’
“And midnight is late enough for a girl your age to be staying out. You don’t need to be out all night, doing whatever it is you do when you’re out.” She gives Faith a knowing look but doesn’t say anything in front of the younger kids. Faith decides to say something and hopes she words this right. She doesn’t like fighting with Judy because she’s the nicest woman Faith has ever known. Challenging authority figures is something Faith has done since she was a small child, and Bill is the biggest authority figure in this house so she has no problem going up against him every once in a while.
“I know you just want me safe, but you don’t need to worry because I am.” She gives the older woman and equally knowing look and Judy sighs. She is open with the woman about her night life. She lies to Bill because he would completely freak out and probably lock her in the bedroom forever. But Judy understands what Faith is going to, to a certain degree. ‘But I’m not going to be doing that shit anymore. Buffy said we’re not gonna be exclusive but I know she’ll get pissed if I keep seein other people. So I don’t see what it can hurt.’ Swallowing her pride, and taking note of the bitter taste Faith thinks of something to say.
“But if you guys are worried that much then I’ll stop going out.” The two adults look at her in shock. “I did some thinking today and I don’t wanna keep doing what I’m doing.” Well, that’s not exactly true now is it? You just want to do it with someone else. ‘Shut up.’ “So I’m...sorry for all the fighting.” Bill and Judy are still looking at her like she just grew two heads and a tail. She decides to change the subject, or better yet, remove herself from the situation. She looks around for an excuse to leave and finds the perfect one. “Tanner’s done eating, I’ll give him his bath.” She gets up from the table and takes the boy out of his highchair.
“No bath,” the boy says as he’s lifted out of the chair and propped on Faith’s hip. Despite his small protest he’s still carried into the bathroom. “No bath.” Faith gives him a little look and he pouts the biggest pout the girl has ever seen. ‘I’m so glad Buffy doesn’t know how to do that or I’d be a goner.’ “No bath.” He makes himself sound pathetic, and Faith almost buys into it. But then she remembers that she’s sixteen, and he’s two and a half. She shouldn’t let a little kid manipulate her, that would totally kill the badass image she tries to keep up.
“Yes a bath.” She turns the handles until the water is the perfect temperature and she waits for the tub to fill up with enough water before she turns it off, and strips the boy down. He doesn’t fight against her. The protest from earlier was just an attempt to see if he could get away with something, but he couldn’t. “There, doesn’t the water feel good?” He nods his head yes and grabs his toys out of the plastic pitcher. She uses it to wet the boy’s hair so she can wash it.
“Ok, head back,” she says and uses one hand to block the water from dripping down to the boy’s eyes. She rinses out the shampoo conditioner combo and lets the boy play for a little while longer before she pulls releases the plug and the water starts to drain. “Come on, it’s time to get out.” He yawns widely and holds his arms up so she can lift him out of the tub.
“It’s almost your bedtime,” she says and smiles when he pouts and shakes his head no. ‘God, this kid is so damn cute.’ She wraps the towel around his little body and gets a diaper from the hall closet. She takes him into his bedroom and lays him down on the floor. She puts the diaper on him and dresses him in his footsie pajamas. After she puts the towel in the hamper she grabs his favorite book off the bookshelf and carries him out to the living room. Even though it’s only eight thirty at night everyone else has gone off to bed.
“Gonna read a book?” Tanner asks and looks up at Faith as she sits down in the recliner. ‘I could so totally get used to this,’ she thinks and nods her head yes. She reads him the story about the cat in the large hat that shows up at the children’s house and causes all sorts of chaos while their mother is out. She reads it three times before he finally doses off to sleep. She doesn’t get up to put him in his bed, though. She revels in the feeling of the little body nestled against her. She can’t help but get a little nostalgic at feeling.
She groans a little when there’s a few small knocks at the door. ‘Who the fuck is that?’ she thinks as she stands up and gently lays the sleeping boy down in the recliner. He doesn’t wake up, but when there’s more knocking at the door he moves around a little and Faith wants to yell at whoever has come here at this ungodly hour of nine twenty-three. She opens the door and gets ready to give this person a piece of her mind. But then she sees who it is, and she stops cold. Her mind goes numb and her body tenses up.
“Don’t tell me you’re not happy to see me,” the man says and smiles his very charming smile. It seems to pull Faith out of the shock she went into and she flies into the guy’s arms and lets out a very girly squeal. They hug for what seems like forever but to Faith it isn’t long enough. “Alright, stop with the girliness.” Faith pulls back from the hug and gives him a big smile, but can’t help it as she rolls her eyes a little bit.
What, you have too much testosterone to show me some love?” she asks and the guy rolls his eyes, but the smile doesn’t go away. “When did you get here?” She gets out of the way and lets him in the house. She isn’t sure how the foster parents are going to feel about him being here but she doesn’t care. ‘If they don’t like it they can fuck off.’
“A little while ago. And the Sunnydale bus station could really use a good cleaning. So, on a scale of one to ten, how surprised are you to see me?” They sit down on the couch and the man notices the little boy laying in the recliner fast asleep. “He’s not yours is he? ‘Cause if he is you are in a world of hurt.” He looks over at Faith and she just rolls her eyes. She gives the twenty-something year old a small punch on the arm.
“Whatever, like you’d do anything to me. And no he’s not mine. He’s the parental’s youngest.” ‘Did I really just use the word parental?’ “I better put him in his bed. I’ll get some blankets and stuff for the couch. The motels in this town are nasty, there’s no way you’re staying in one of those.” She picks up the sleeping boy and leaves the room before he can ask her how she would know that.
The last thing she needs is him getting mad at her for doing some stuff that he wouldn’t approve of. ‘But I have to tell him the truth eventually. Leaving out details is not lying, it’s just sugarcoating. Hopefully he won’t be mad.’ She gets some extra blankets out of the hall closet along with a pillow and goes back into living room. She can’t help but smile when she sees that the tall, brunette boy dressed in some grubby jeans, a stained blue t-shirt, and some old converse shoes that look like they’re about to fall apart. But she’s more then happy to see him despite those imperfections, and the fact that he could really use a shower.
She covers him up with the blanket and gives him a little kiss on the cheek. She decides to sleep in the living room as well because if her foster parents find a strange man sleeping on their couch when they wake up in the morning they’re not going to take stay calm about it. So she turns out all the lights, sits down next to him on the couch and covers up with the second blanket she had brought out just in case.
She fights off the urge to curl up next to him, but can’t take it any longer. She rests her head on his chest and wraps one of his large, tattooed arms around her and closes her eyes. She stays awake for as long as she can. She listens to the sounds of his breathing, and his heartbeat. She smiles at the up and down motion of his chest, and snuggles into him as close as she can without actually sitting on his lap. As she slowly drifts off to sleep she feels at home for the first time in eight years.
Chapter 15 - My Jealousy
The perky blonde teenager walks down the sidewalk towards Sunnydale High. She’s in a great mood considering it’s a Monday. But this isn’t a normal Monday like all the others. This is the first day she’s going to see Faith since saying goodbye to her on Saturday. She can’t believe how attached she’s become to the charming brunette, but she has and she missed being with the leather clad girl.
But this Monday is also different for entirely different reasons. It’s her first day back at school since the dance. She already knows that practically everybody at school knows a little about what happened. Word got out because Harmony Kendall saw some of it. She doesn’t know exactly what happened though.
All she saw was Percy West pressing Buffy Summers against a locker, and they looked a little intimate, and then Faith showed up and completely freaked out, and beat the hell out of the basketball star. She felt it was her civic duty to tell Cordelia what happened, and when the brunette fashion diva got wind of what happened she told absolutely everybody. And how does Buffy know all of this? Because at least a hundred people called her over the weekend and asked her about it.
But she refused to answer their questions, and the only one she would talk to was Willow. The ginger girl didn’t call like everyone else. She made a personal appearance at Buffy’s house on Sunday afternoon, and the blonde filled her in on almost everything that happened. She didn’t tell Willow about the attempted rape. She didn’t even tell her mother about that. Nope, the only people who know that Percy tried to rape Buffy is Faith, Percy, and Buffy.
The fair haired girl stops when she sees the school. She watches as the students march up the stairs and head inside. Some kids hang out on the railings as they enjoy their little bit of freedom before it’s time for class, and for the weekend to officially come to an end. ‘You can do this, just stay calm. People are going to ask you about what happened but that’s ok. Just tell them you don’t want to talk about it and hopefully they’ll leave you alone.’
She lets out a small breath of relief when she spots Faith’s truck in its usual parking spot. But something’s different. Faith isn’t sitting in the driver’s seat. Instead it’s some totally hot guy who has his arm around Faith’s shoulders and she has her head on his chest. ‘I shouldn’t be upset. I told her I didn’t want to be exclusive so you can see whoever she wants. Just like I can see whoever I want, and she wouldn’t have the right to be mad.’ With that in mind she makes her way towards the school, and suddenly isn’t so glad to be back.
She can’t help but notice that everyone is looking at her as she walks by. It makes her feel naked despite the fact that she’s wearing jeans, a new blouse, and a lot of makeup to try and cover the bruises on her face. But nobody says anything to her. She turns around when she gets to the top of the stairs and looks down at Faith’s truck. She watches as Faith gives the guy a kiss on the cheek, then she gets out of the truck and he starts it and drives away. Even though she already told herself she shouldn’t be upset, she is, and she doesn’t want to be around Faith at the moment because she won’t be able to hide it.
“I’m surprised you had the courage to show your face,” she hears Cordelia say. The brunette girl and her band of followers get right in Buffy’s way and prevent her from going any further. “First you turn Percy down to go out with that slut bomb, then you get all snuggly with him at the dance and Faith’s practically rips him a new one. Hasn’t anyone told you that she’s a complete psycho-dyke?” Buffy thinks about just walking away and avoiding the confrontation, but she won’t. Not in front of all these people.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you. You obviously have no idea what really happened or you wouldn’t be at my throat. And if Faith is such a psycho then it’s pretty unsafe for you to be bothering me like this, don’t you think?” The taller girl pales slightly, and looks a little nervous. “Just leave me alone, Cordelia.” Buffy walks around the group of girls and into the school. But it’s even worst in there. Not only are people staring at her, but they’re whispering about her, and they’re not even trying to hide it.
She walks up to her locker and gets out the books she’s going to need for her first class. After she closes the door she stands there staring at a stain and wishing she hadn’t avoided Faith. Now she can’t prove it was on purpose, but as a small group of people are walking by the one closest to her bumps her with their shoulder and she’s pushed against the locker, smacking her hurt face on the hard metal and she drops her books. This draws even more attention, and some people start to laugh.
‘This day is going to just keep getting worst and worst isn’t it?’ she asks herself as she picks up her stuff. ‘You know with so many people watching me right now you’d think at least one of them would stop and help me.’ Proving once again that chivalry is dead. After she’s collected all her books off the floor she stands up and spots Faith walk in the big front doors of Sunnydale High. ‘That really took her a long time to walk from the parking lot. She probably stopped and talked with her friends first or something.’
She thinks about staying at her locker and waiting for the brunette girl to see her, but when the bell rings announcing that it’s time for everyone to scurry off to class, Buffy joins the rat race and is one of the first students in her seat. ‘God, why am I being such a freak? You told her you don’t want to be exclusive. She asked you to be her girlfriend and you totally turned her down. You’re the bitch in this situation so stop complaining.’
She tries as hard as she can to pay attention to what the teacher is lecturing about, but it’s useless. Now that she has Faith on her brain she can’t get her out. It’s been that way for a while actually. Whenever she starts thinking of the sweet, mysterious girl who’s been constantly surprising her with her many layers, everything else is put on the back burner to sit for a while because Buffy can’t think of anything else.
‘You know what I should do? I should go out on a date with someone else. I mean, why not? Faith obviously did it, and she trusts that person enough to borrow her truck. Which means she’s going to see him again. I wonder if I still have Kennedy’s phone number?’ With those thoughts in mind Buffy gets up from her seat when the bell rings, and heads to the library to spend her break with the two friends who have been a little ignored lately. She finds them sitting at the center table, like they always are, and she sits down next to Willow.
“Hey guys,” she says and puts her bag, and books down. “What’s up?” She looks from one teenager to the other and she notices that they’re trying not to look at her face. ‘I guess they don’t want to stare at me like the freak that I am.’ “You guys it’s ok, you can look if you want. Just don’t look for too long.” No matter how much makeup she puts on she can’t cover up the dark marks that Percy left.
“Does it still hurt?” Willow asks and looks over at the swinging doors when she hears one open. She sees Faith strolling in like she owns the place, but Faith always walks like that. The other too look over as well, and Buffy instantly tenses up. Willow notices, but Xander is too busy ogling Faith’s cleavage to notice anything else. ‘I here I thought I wouldn’t run into her until lunch. What am I going to say to her? How am I going to not act like a jealous freak?’ She doesn’t know but she has to try.
“Hey B,” Faith says when she gets to the table. “Red, Xand how you two been?” They both say they’ve been fine and they give each other some little looks like ‘what is she on?’ But the looks go ignored because as soon as Faith’s gaze locks with Buffy’s it’s all she can look at. She’s not looking at the bruises like everyone else, and she’s not checking out the blonde’s hot body like a lot of the guys do. Nope, she’s looking right into Buffy’s eyes and for the first time today Buffy feels like someone is finally looking at her and not her wounds.
“Hey,” Buffy says and looks away from the intense look Faith is giving her. “So, what did you do yesterday?” ‘Oh yeah, ‘cause you don’t sound so totally obvious. She’s going to know you’re jealous and she’s going to think you’re a freak.’ Faith sits on the table, and looks down at Buffy.
“Not much. Just hung out at home.” Buffy can’t stop the glare that crosses her face after Faith says that. ‘I know we said we weren’t going to be exclusive but she can at least tell me the truth.’ Faith notices the little look and her eyebrows furrow just a little bit. “You ok?” Buffy nods her head and makes the glare go away. But the red flags have already gone up in Faith’s mind. “Can I talk to you, uh, in private?” She gives Xander and Willow a little look and nods her head towards the door.
“Hey Xander, remember we told Ms. Calendar we’d help her download that new program onto the computers in the lab? Well, we don’t wanna be late. See ya latter Buffy.” The redhead grabs Xander by the wrist and practically drags in out of the library door. ‘Traitors,’ Buffy thinks and rolls her eyes a little.
“So, now that we’re alone,” Faith says and sits down in the chair next to Buffy. There are so many ways the blonde could interpret what Faith just said, but she knows better then to do that. “Will you tell me what that look was about?” Feeling frustrated at how casual Faith is being about all of this, Buffy sighs. She rubs her forehead a little to try and ward off the headache she knows she’s going to get.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Faith.” She looks over at the very confused brunette. She almost screams she’s getting so frustrated. It isn’t just Faith that’s making her this way. It’s everything that’s piling up. Her repressed jealousy, all the looks she’s been getting, what Cordelia said to her earlier, it’s starting to get to her.
“I know you were with someone I saw him drop you off this morning, and it’s ok. I was the one who said we shouldn’t be exclusive. So I have no right to get jealous. So you don’t have to lie to me about what you did last night.” Understanding hits Faith like a Mac truck and her eyes widen a little. ‘Eww, he’s my brother. She really thinks I had sex with him? That thought is so gross.’ She leans closer to the blonde and holds onto her hand.
“Buffy, it’s not like that at all. I swear I was at home all night. That guy you saw me with is my big brother. I haven’t been with anyone since I asked you out.” Buffy looks a little surprised, but it’s definitely a nice surprise. “Shocking I know.” That is said sarcastically. “But it’s true. I don’t want to be with anyone else.” ‘Ahh, she’s so damn sweet. Too bad Willow and Xander aren’t here to see this.’
“So, you have a brother?” ‘Are all the people in Faith’s family hot?’ “You never told me you had a brother.” She watches as Faith looks away and for some reason she knows that she isn’t going to get much out of the slightly younger girl on the subject. “How come I haven’t seen him around? I mean, I know I haven’t been in Sunnydale for very long, but I’ve seen a lot of people and I’d definitely remember him.” ‘Oh God, please tell I didn’t just say that.’ Faith looks over at her with a sly smile on her face.
“You think my brother’s hot?” she asks in a very teasing tone. A rosy pink blush spreads across Buffy’s cheeks, and Faith can’t resist the urge to tease her more. “Am I going to have to fight for you? ‘Cause I need to know now so I can go work out and buff up.” Buffy laughs a little and reaches out and gently squeezes one of Faith’s biceps.
“I don’t know you feel pretty strong to me. I think you can take him.” Faith tightens and relaxes her arm a couple of times and it makes Buffy smile. Then the bell rings and both girls sigh in frustration. ‘Can’t we have one moment of uninterrupted peace?’ “We better get to class.” Faith nods her head a little, but instead of getting up she leans over and gives Buffy a kiss on the lips. It doesn’t last too long but it’s exactly what both girls needed.
“I can’t believe you got so jealous,” Faith says and Buffy blushes a little. “Sorry, but this is definitely tease worthy for at least a day.” Buffy rolls her eyes and stands up. Before she can grab her bag Faith picks it up and slings it over her shoulder. ‘She’s going to walk me to class? Could she be any sweeter?’ The two walk to class and now that Faith is there to distract her Buffy doesn’t notice any of the looks the other kids are giving her. In her mind the day couldn’t be better then this.
Chapter 16 - My Ride Home
‘I am so glad the school part of the day is over,’ Buffy thinks as she walks down the steps of the main entrance of the school. She just wants to get home and away from the nosey people at Sunnydale High. People that she didn’t even knew existed came up to her and wanted to know all about what happened at the dance. But she didn’t talk to any of them. She ignored them, and when that didn’t work Faith scared them off.
“Hey, B,” she hears Faith when she reaches the bottom step. She turns around and smiles a little bit at the sight of the slightly taller girl. “I know your mom said you have to go straight home after school, but did she say you have to walk?” ‘What’s this? Faith found a loophole? I knew there was a reason I liked her so much. She’s got beauty and brains.’
“No. No, she didn’t,” the blonde says with a small smile. Then she remembers something, and the smile fades a little. ‘Faith doesn’t have her truck.’ “How are you going to drive me home if your brother has your truck.?” The smile changes to a softer when she feels the brunette trying to hold her hand. She doesn’t want to embarrass the other girl who tries so hard to appear tough. So she takes the brunette by the hand and they continuing walking towards the parking lot.
“By brother is picking me up. He won’t care if you bum a ride.” ‘If I bum a ride? Is she going to have me sit in the back like a hitchhiker?’ “You’re really gonna like my brother. He’s a drummer in a rock band. Well, he used to be.” Buffy can’t help but notice the little bit of sadness that enters Faith’s voice at that last part. ‘I wonder what happened? How come she didn’t tell me she has a brother? Something just isn’t right.’
“There he is. Come on,” Faith says and starts walking faster. Her brother didn’t park in the student parking lot, but across the stress instead. ‘Geez, pull my arm off why don’t you,’ the blonde thinks and tries to keep up with the brunette. Buffy looks over at the truck and again her eyes are drawn to the tall man. He’s dressed in a short sleeved white t-shirt, dark blue jeans that look a little worn and stained, and he has tattoos all over his arms. His hair is dark and slightly curly and Buffy has the urge to run her fingers through it.
“Hey big bro,” Faith says with a big smile. She lets go of Buffy’s hand to give the man a big hug. “You know those things’ll kill you.” The reason he didn’t park on school campus is so he could enjoy a cigarette or three without being harassed by any teachers. Buffy watches as the very attractive guy flicks his cigarette to the ground so he can give his little sister a proper hug. The blonde watches the little sweet moment and smiles softly to herself.
“Faith, aren’t you gonna introduce me to your friend?” he says in a husky voice. The two depart from the hug and Faith takes a step away from her brother so she’s standing off to the side of the two, forming a semi-circle. Buffy looks into the very dark eyes of the smiling man and just looking at him almost makes her blush. ‘Maybe Faith was right about having to fight for me. Look at him, he’s gorgeous. I so want to have his babies.’
“Noah, this is my girl Buffy. B, this is my brother Noah.” ‘Noah? So their parents are like religious freaks or something?’ She can’t help but notice when the boy’s demeanor seems to change right before her eyes. He turns a little serious. He squares his shoulders, and stands up a little taller. ‘Ok, maybe I don’t want to have his babies if his personality can change so quick for no reason.’ He casts a glance at Faith, and then looks at Buffy again.
“Your girl, huh?” he asks and holds out his hand for Buffy to shake. ‘Her girl? I like the sound of that. I like it a lot. Is it bad that I like it so much? Is it too soon for us to be a real couple?’ Not wanting to seem rude, she does grip his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” He doesn’t let go right away, instead he tightens his grip just enough to cause Buffy some discomfort. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing anyone. Or that you’re into girls.” ‘Her brother didn’t know she’s gay? Something is definitely off. My spidey senses are tingling.’
“Well, I didn’t really know how to bring it up so I thought I’d introduce you. And now you know.” ‘Oh God, he isn’t homophobic is he? ‘Cause Faith really seems to look up to him and if he is I have a feeling she’ll be crushed.’ “And Buffy has to be home right after school so I thought we’d give her a ride.” ‘Why is he looking at me like that?’ Buffy tries not to stare but the suspicious expression on Noah’s face is making her skin crawl.
“Sure. I’ll drive.” He gets in the truck and shuts the door. Faith and Buffy are left standing there and both look a little confused. But Faith decides to ignore it. Her brother has been locked up for the last eight years so it’s been a long time since he’s had some. ‘He probably thinks B’s hot and he doesn’t wanna make a fool of himself. He’s not doing a very good job though.’ She holds onto Buffy’s hand and they walk to the other side of the truck. Faith decides to sit in the middle since there won’t be much room in the cramped cab.
They start off towards Buffy’s house in complete silence. The girls don’t know what to say, and the vibe inside the truck isn’t very comfortable. There’s tension coming from the older man and neither Faith or Buffy can figure out why. Before they left he seemed so happy, but as soon as Faith said the words ‘my girl’ things changed.
“How long have you two been dating?” Noah asks after a couple minutes of silence that seemed like it would never end. Faith smiles a little bit and holds onto Buffy’s hand. ‘God, what is this girl doing to me? I’m going totally soft.
“It’ll be three weeks on Friday.” ‘So I guess we’re dating now. Except we can’t go on dates because I’m grounded and if my mom gets her way I’ll never be alone with Faith again. I’m surprised she didn’t freak out on Saturday when she walked in on me and Faith. Good thing she walked in when she did or she might have seen a whole lot more.’
“How long have you known each other?” he asks and stops at the stop sign. Buffy’s getting a little nervous about where this conversation could be heading. Faith on the other hand is too blinded by the greatness that is her big brother to really see what’s going on.
“Three weeks today.” The brunette sounds like she’s never been happier. The blonde is nervous though, about how the very strong looking man is going to react. ‘I’m dating his little sister. I’ve only known her for three weeks. She’s the one who asked me out, but that isn’t going to matter to him. I’m going to be the suspicious one. Great, now we can never go passed second base because if he finds out he’ll kill me.’
“Three weeks?” His voice is full of skepticism and both girls hear it. He turns right and keeps talking before either girl can respond. “That’s not very long. You sure you can trust her?” The question is obviously for Faith. Buffy tenses up a little bit and tries to let go of Faith’s hand, but the brunette won’t let her.
“Yeah, I can trust her. Why are you making a big deal outta this? It’s not like you’ve never dated.” She stops and think about it for a couple seconds. “Well, I guess dated wouldn’t be the right word for what you and Ali Renfro did almost every night.” The brunette starts chuckling to herself like she just told a really funny joke, but no one else is finding it funny. If anything it just made the tension grow. ‘Great,’ Buffy thinks and shifts uncomfortably in the tiny cab. ‘Now he’s going to think I’m sleeping with his sister.’
“Yeah, I remember that. You were seven and you wore underwear with Disney princesses on them.” Faith’s neck and ears turn a bright red and Buffy tries so hard not to laugh or smile. ‘She used to wear princess underwear? That is so cute.’ “And that’s different, and you know it.” His voice went from playful, to very serious in a matter of seconds. ‘Oh yeah, this is going so well, don’t you think?’
“Why are you freaking out?” Faith asks and now she’s serious. “She’s not gonna hurt me, or use me or any of that shit. So back off, and at least try to be civil.” She has to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something about the fact that Noah’s been in prison for the last eight years. ‘I should’ve walked home. None of this would be happening if I had just walked home.’ Noah turns onto Revello Drive and Buffy points out which house is hers.
“I’m not freaking out. I just think you need to be more careful. You’ve only known her for three weeks, and I wasn’t around to see you grow up, but I still know you. And you don’t let people in until you’ve known ‘em for a long time. You think a girl like her is gonna want you when she finds out where we came from, and where we are now?” ‘Why can’t he just shut up?’ Faith thinks and has to fight her anger to keep herself from doing something stupid. Noah stops the truck and everyone just sits there, not knowing what to do. Buffy is the one to finally break the very uncomfortable silence.
“Thanks for the ride,” she says and opens the door. She lets go of Faith’s hand and that seems to pull the brunette out of the little trance she had been in. The raven haired girl follows the blonde out of the truck and closes the door. She says something to her brother but Buffy isn’t paying any attention. She’s still trying to process everything that was said on the ride here. ‘How did it get so bad?’ she thinks and zones off a little.
“I’ll walk you to the door,” she hears Faith say, and that snaps her back to reality. The two hold hands as they walk up the walkway towards the large house. They’re silent until they reach the porch. Buffy doesn’t go inside right away because she doesn’t want Faith to think that Noah has scared her off. ‘I really like Faith, and she likes me, and if her brother can’t handle that then I guess we won’t be hanging out whenever I get ungrounded.’ “I’m so sorry about all that. If I knew he was gonna be like that I would’ve walked you home.” Buffy can’t help but smile at that. ‘She’s just so sweet.’
“It’s ok. He’s just being a protective big brother. I’m surprised he didn’t flat out ask if we’re sleeping together or not.” She smiles a little bit and looks into the dark brown eyes of the girl in front of her. “Is it ok if I kiss you goodbye or will he come over here?” She’s only half joking, but at the same time she’s half serious. She doesn’t want to cause any more trouble between the two brunettes.
“It’s ok. Let him get mad.” Faith leans in and presses her lips against the pair of soft, pink, gloss covered ones of the blonde girl. She smiles just a tiny bit when she feels the blonde responding to her. After a few seconds of gently massaging their lips together the taller of the two slightly opens her mouth and runs the tip of her tongue along Buffy’s bottom lip. ‘Mmmmm, cherry flavored,’ she thinks and teases the tip of the other girl’s tongue when Buffy opens her mouth.
Buffy knows that part of what Faith is doing is just a show to make her brother mad. She doesn’t know how she knows this, she just does. Part of her is mad that she’s being used as a why to get under the brunette boy’s skin. But the other part, the part that’s in control can only think about one thing. ‘I can’t wait until that tongue is inside me. She’s probably really good at that too.’ They pull back for oxygen and they rest their foreheads against each other. Faith gently caresses Buffy’s cheek, and she’s about to go in for another breath taking kiss when the horn is honked and it breaks their little moment.
“I gotta go. See you tomorrow? I’ll give you a ride to school. It’ll just be the two of us, promise.” Buffy nods her head and Faith kisses her again. It’s only a little peck, but to Buffy it feels like so much more then that. She watches Faith walk down the pathway to the sidewalk and notices that her girl is putting an extra sway in her hips. ‘My girl. I like the sound of that. I like it a lot.’ She waits until the truck is out of sight before she goes into the house. ‘I’m going to have those lips and that tongue on my mind all day. Good thing I’m grounded and I don’t have anything to do. Being around people would be a little awkward right now.’
Chapter 17 - My Pest
It’s been two weeks since the very awkward ride home. Despite the fact that Buffy is grounded and Faith’s brother is still very protective of his sister, Buffy and Faith have grown closer. They spend every lunch hour together, and the brunette walks the blonde girl home every afternoon instead of driving her home so the two can spend even more time together.
But the blonde girl is starting to get a little frustrated with the situation. She wants to be able to spend some ‘alone time’ with Faith. Even if that ‘alone time’ is just sitting together on the back patio, or in the living room watching TV. The groundation is preventing them from doing so, and she can’t take it anymore.
“Come on, Mom, please?” Buffy says as she follows her mother around the kitchen. Joyce is busy trying to make dinner, and having a teenager shadowing you around begging for attention isn’t the easiest thing when you’re concentrating on something else. “Faith has only been over for dinner once. And you’re the one who’s always telling me you want to get to know the people who are important to me. Well, she’s important to me, and having her over will give you two a chance to talk.” Buffy has been pleading her case for the last five minutes, and Joyce hasn’t even gotten a chance to talk yet.
“Don’t fall for that, Mom. She just wants to invite Faith over so they can make out,” Dawn says from across the kitchen island. She’s been quiet the entire time Buffy has been talking to their mother, and she can’t take anymore. Buffy is supposed to be grounded, it’s bad enough the blonde spends at least half an hour making out with Faith on the front porch after school when she’s supposed to be upstairs doing her homework.
“You just got back from Dad’s yesterday, do you think you can hold off on being annoying until tomorrow?” Buffy asks in a very irritated voice, and it earns a very stern look from her mom. “I’m sorry, but I’m just trying to get you to see the bigger picture. We’re not leaving the house so technically it’s not a date. And because she’s coming over so you can get to know her better this isn’t in anyway a violation of my punishment.”
“Bull!” Dawn yells and slides off the barstool. “When we’re grounded we’re not allowed to have friends over for any reason. And Faith is more then just a friend so she shouldn’t even be allowed to walk Buffy home after school.” ‘Crap. Please tell me she didn’t just say that,’ Buffy thinks and gives Dawn her best death glare. ‘Maybe I make her light on fire with willpower alone.’
“Dawn,” Joyce says and hands the teen the plates and silver wear. “Go set the table.” The ten year old gives her mother a very annoyed look and Joyce sighs. “This is between me and your sister. Now go set the table, or no TV after dinner.” The brunette girls sighs and leaves the room with a lot of attitude. Joyce looks over at her oldest daughter with one eyebrow raised. Buffy knows exactly what she isn’t saying, and it’s making her a little nervous.
“What? You never said that Faith can’t walk me home, I’m just not allowed to have anyone over. She dropped me off at the door, she never stepped inside the house.” The mother decides to drop the subject for now because she doesn’t want an argument to break out. She wants to have a nice, quiet dinner with her daughters now that Dawn is finally back from her father’s. “So can she come over for dinner?” The blonde knows she’s pushing it, but she really wants to spend some more time with Faith.
“I’ll think about it, Buffy. If you keep bothering me about it the answer is no.” The blonde has to stop herself from groaning in frustration. “And I don’t want to hear another word about it, understand?” She nods her head yes and leaves the room. ‘God, this is so unfair. I already told Mom why Faith was in my room, and she doesn’t even care. And I’ve only been grounded for eighteen days so I have…seventy-two to go! This so totally sucks.’
“Why do you want Faith to come over so bad?” Dawn asks as she places the napkins by the plates. “She got you in so much trouble. I don’t think I’d want to be around her after that.” ‘That’s because you’re stupid,’ Buffy thinks and sets the platter of rolls down in the center of the table. “And who names their kid Faith, anyway? Are her parents really religious or something?” ‘I have no idea, I haven’t met her parents yet.’
“Why don’t you mind your own business? I don’t bug you about the people you hang out with. Well, at least I wouldn’t if someone actually wanted to hang out with you.” The blonde is just teasing, and knows that her sister has plenty of friends, but the brunette doesn’t find that very funny. She slams a fork down on the table and Buffy looks up at her with a ‘what the hell?’ look on her face.
“I just started school yesterday, Buffy. And I had a lot of friends before we moved,” she sounds very angry, and as soon as she stops talking she goes back to setting the table, and she completely ignores the blonde teenager standing across the table from her. Their parents thought it would be best if Dawn stayed with their dad for a little while longer so she wouldn’t have to go through the stress of getting used to a new school, and do the state testing at the same time.
Buffy does feel bad for her little sister. She remembers the day she and her mother left for Sunnydale perfectly. The thing she remembers most is Dawn crying her eyes out, and getting sick when she couldn’t calm herself down. It was supposedly for the best, but the blonde doesn’t think so. Although she was thankful for the little break from her sister, she’s just glad that Dawn is home and they can start to become normal again.
“I’m sorry, Dawnie. I’m sure you’ll make a lot of friends in no time. But if there’s a girl at your school with the last name of Chase, avoid her at all costs.” ‘Does Cordelia have a little sister?’ Just the thought of a mini-Cordelia is enough to make Buffy’s stomach turn. “Maybe this weekend Mom will let me show you around the town. It’ll take twenty minutes tops.” The younger girls rolls her big, blue eyes and it makes the blonde smile. “I’m serious. This is a very small town. The mall here only has ten stores, including the food court.”
“Buffy, I’m ten. I don’t care about clothes as much as you do. As long as they have an ice cream store, and a Toys R Us I’ll be fine,” she says in a very mock-serious tone. ‘Geez, what a smart ass. I think living alone with Dad damaged her. Maybe Mom should put her in therapy or something.’ They finish setting the table in relative silence after that. Now that Dawn’s in a bad mood she doesn’t feel like talking to anyone, especially her sister.
“Mom, I forgot to tell you,” Dawn says as eldest Summers puts the roast on the table. She looks at her youngest with a little concern. She can’t help but notice that Dawn sounds a little depressed, even Buffy looks worried. “The guidance counselor wants you to sign some papers. She said that with everything that’s happened it would be a good idea for me to meet with her twice a week to talk. She said something about a group of kids who are going through the same thing.” ‘Wow, and I was just kidding about the therapy thing,’ Buffy thinks and starts making up her plate.
“Well, it’s up to you, sweetheart. If you don’t want to talk with her about…everything then you don’t have to.” The brunette nods her head a little, but she still seems very upset. ‘And, here we go. She always does this. Everything has to be about her all the time or she isn’t happy,’ the blonde thinks and rolls her eyes. ‘Maybe I should go easy on her. Moving here was pretty hard until I started to make friends. Well, moving here was hard until I met Faith.’ The blonde can’t help but smile at the thought of her girlfriend. ‘She’s just so sweet. I can’t wait until this whole groundation thing is over. Hmm, I wonder how we should celebrate?’
“Why are you smiling like that?” Dawn asks when she sees the strange look on her sister’s face. Buffy tries to stay calm at the fact that she just got caught thinking sexy thoughts about the raven haired girl. ‘Just calm down. She’s only ten she doesn’t know what sexy thoughts are yet.’ Buffy is about to tell her little sister to mind her own business but then her mother speaks up.
“She was probably thinking about Faith,” Joyce says with a playful smile. Buffy’s eyes widen to five times their normal size. “She always smiles like that when she thinks about Faith.” Buffy is stunned a little horrified when her mother winks at her and gives her a very knowing gaze. ‘Oh my God, Mom knows that I’ve been thinking sexy thoughts about Faith? That is so gross. I need to stop thinking about Faith. At least when I’m not alone in my bedroom.’ She’s snapped out of the little trance when she hears Dawn giggle.
“Shut up, runt,” Buffy says and throws her napkin at the little pest. ‘Thank you. At least someone finally agrees that she’s a pest.’ She gets a glare from her mother and she looks down at her plate. ‘I can’t believe this. Dawn just got here yesterday and she’s already getting me in trouble. This is bullshit.’ Then Buffy gets an idea that she thinks is brilliant. An idea that if she can pull off will allow her to spend more time with Faith.
“Mom, my math has been giving me a really bad time lately. I try to do the problems, but they always come out wrong, and I was wondering if I could stay after school tomorrow and have someone tutor me.” ‘Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.’ She’s on pins and needles waiting for the answer.
“As long as you’re home by five. I know I said no friends, but maybe your friend Willow can come to the house and tutor you?” ‘Crap. Ok, just stay calm and come up with a good reason why Willow can’t tutor you at home.’ She tries to keep the surprise and nervousness out of her face, but she has a feeling her mom can tell she’s going to lie.
“Because she’s already tutoring Xander, and we don’t have any of the same classes so she can’t teach us at the same time. And she has all of her homework to deal with. But there’s a girl who tutors people after school and she said she’d tutor me tomorrow.” ‘Wow, that was pretty good. Hopefully she’ll buy it because I really want to hang out with Faith where we won’t be bothered by the people at school or by my pest of a sister.’
“As long as you’re home by five,” Joyce says and Buffy has to force herself not to look too happy about it or she’ll be given away. ‘I can’t believe it was that easy. There has to be a catch in there somewhere. Then again, I think the catch is being home by five. When I’m with Faith the time is the last thing I pay attention to. I really hope I get home on time or Mom will never let me go anywhere again.’
After dinner Buffy goes upstairs to her room to think more about this plan she’s come up with. She has no idea where the two are going to go. They can’t come back here for the obvious reason. Dawn will rat them out and Buffy doesn’t want even more time added to her punishment. ‘We can always go to her house. Unless she doesn’t want to take me to her house. I really want to know why she never talks about her parents.’ A small knock at her door brings her out of her thoughts. She looks over and sees Dawn standing in the doorway.
“Can I hang out in here?” she asks and sounds a little sheepish. When it comes to her big sister she never quite knows how to act. She looks up to Buffy even if she won’t admit it, and she just wants her sister to view her as an equal and not an annoying little runt.
“Don’t touch anything,” Buffy says and goes back to staring at the ceiling. ‘Maybe we can just drive around until we find a spot to park. No, that seems a little weird. I’m sure she’ll know where to go. I don’t want to think anything bad about her, but she said that she’s been with a lot of girls. So it’s safe to say she’ll know where to go for a little make out session.’ She sighs and rubs her forehead, and then sighs again.
“Is this Faith?” she hears Dawn ask, and she looks over where her sister is standing. The short, adolescence is standing at Buffy’s bulletin board looking at the pictures. There is one of Faith and Buffy up there. A student from the year book committee was taking pictures of the dance, and he got a really good shot of Buffy and Faith dancing together. When Buffy saw it in the school newspaper under ‘top ten favorite couples of Sunnydale High’ she asked the guy for a copy of the picture. She nods her head at Dawn and smiles a little bit. “Wow, she’s really pretty.” ‘You have no idea.’
“Are you going to try and steal her away from me?” Buffy teases and Dawn just sighs and rolls her eyes a little. “I’m just giving you a bad time, don’t get all huffy and puffy about it.” Here I am wondering why Faith doesn’t open up to me and I haven’t even told her that I have a younger sister. Then again the subject of siblings never really came up. I didn’t know she had a brother until I saw him drop her off at school. “She’s really cool. I think you two will get along.” ‘Not that I care. Just stay away from us when she comes over and I won’t be the one responsible for your death.’
“Yeah right. If she likes you then she’s probably stuck up like all your boyfriends were.” Buffy is going to argue with the younger girl, but she doesn’t get the chance. Dawn storms out of the room and slams the door. ‘Sometimes her moods swing so fast I’m surprised I don’t get whiplash.’ So, with the adolescent pest out of the room Buffy goes back to thinking about her plan and how she’s going to pull it off.
