Chapter Thirty-Three - The Codex

"So I hear you're a dyke now, Buffy; how's that working out for you? Has Faith given you herpes yet?"

Both Faith and Buffy stand up from the library table so fast that their chairs clatter to the ground. Faith nearly vaulted the damn table to go strangle Cordelia, but Giles stops her. "Cordelia, don't you have anywhere else you need to be?" Giles asks flatly, not sounding amused in the slightest from the verbal abuse being dealt towards his girls.

"Um, hello? This is library; home of books, one of which is unfortunately what I need. Trust me, I'd rather not hang around with you freaks any longer than needed," Cordelia retorts, brushing her hair over her shoulder in a wave of self-importance.

"The next time a vampire tries to eat you, I'm so not stopping it," Buffy growls just as Faith shouts, "I swear to God if you speak to her again I'm gonna rip out your tongue and shove it up your ass, you two-bit skankfest! Fuckin' try me!" She tries to get to her again, but Giles tightens his grip on her t-shirt and pulls her back.

"Faith, stop," he tells her seriously. She relents for the time being, only because it's Giles, but she knows her patience isn't going to last very long.

"Aw, that's sweet Faith; stick up for your woman," Cordelia goads, looking amused by Faith's anger. "God knows she's the only one brain damaged enough to ever think you're worth something, so you wouldn't want to lose her too fast." She grabs the book she was looking for from the shelf and shoots her a sarcastic grin before she walks down the stairs to the desk.

"You know, if you were twice as smart, you'd still be fuckin' stupid, Cordelia. Check your birth certificate lately? That's the apology from the condom factory," Faith shoots back, wanting nothing more than to just go over there and beat her head in, but now Buffy's holding her back and she knows there's no way out of her grip.

"Faith, she's not even worth it…" Buffy tries.

"At least my family can afford condoms," Cordelia snaps, giving her the finger before she turns around and slams her book on the counter. "Uh, hello? Anyone going to check me out or do I have to stand here all day?"

"Just take the books," Giles tells her, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Keep them if you want; just get out of my library."

Cordelia scoffs. "Rudeness." Faith wants to show her what the fuck rude really is but Buffy still won't let her go and within moments Cordelia's out the door.

"You shoulda just let me hit her, B!" Faith exclaims, whirling around once Buffy has actually let her go.

"And watch you get suspended again? No thanks. Besides she's…" she looks down, shrugging slightly as she slides back into her seat. "She's not exactly the only one saying stuff like that," she admits quietly.

"Excuse me?" Faith asks, hoping she didn't hear her correctly. People fucking with her, that's one thing. But fucking with Buffy? No, that's bullshit.

"Everyone knows, Faith," Buffy says quietly, playing with her hands a little self-consciously. "It's all over the school that I asked you to Homecoming. Don't you remember how people were when you first came here? It's not exactly unexpected…"

"So? Screw them, just because you wanna take a chick to the dance doesn't give them the fuckin' right to be cunts to you."

"Faith," Giles says quietly, knowing why she's using the word and understanding it, yet still obviously not approving of its use around him.

"Sorry, G; but they are. It's one thing for them to fuck with me, another to fuck with you, B."

Buffy looks up at her, giving her a sad smile as she reaches out to grasp her hand. "Thanks… for sticking up for me. But it's my problem, okay? I can handle it; you don't need to get involved. You get… well, you get violent and you really can't have any more strikes against you in your record."

Faith lets out a breath and stays quiet for a moment. She knows she's right, but she doesn't have to like it. But she squeezes Buffy's hand a little in encouragement before she lets it go, sighing as she relents, "Fine. But I can't be held responsible for the shit I do when that crap's said in front of me. That's bullshit, B. You already got enough going on."

Buffy gives her a look of gratitude just as the bell rings. Faith groans; still three more hours left of school. The two of them get up to go to class but Giles stops them, "Faith? If you have a minute I'd like to speak to you privately."

Faith looks at him oddly, not sure why he'd need to talk to her, but she shrugs. "Yeah, s'cool. Not overly fond of History anyway."

"I'll see you after school," Buffy tells her with a shy smile before she turns and walks out of the library. Faith stares at her retreating form for what must have been a long time since Giles has to clear his throat to get her attention. Faith spins around.

"Sorry. What's up?"

"Perhaps you should sit down," Giles suggests. Faith doesn't like the sound of that, but does what she's told and takes a seat. "I, uh…" Giles starts, taking off his glasses for a moment to compulsively clean them with his handkerchief. "As… wonderful as it is seeing you take a real interest in someone for once, Faith; I feel that I should express my concerns about your attachment to Buffy."

"What?" Faith asks, laughing a little. "What attachment, G? We're just friends."

Giles sighs a little before he replaces his glasses on his nose. "Faith, I may be old, but I certainly am not blind. You two may not have a relationship per say, but I dare say it seems to be heading in that direction."

"I don't do relationships," Faith protests. Just because she's stopped pushing Buffy away from her, doesn't mean that's changed. It only means she knows there's more important shit to worry about right now; like the damn apocalypse. "Besides, even if I did, why are you suddenly getting all preachy at me about it? Thought you were on Team 'Faith-Needs-A-Relationship' like everyone else."

"I am, I just fear Buffy may not be the perfect match for you," Giles tells her softly.

"Why?"

"Because she is a Slayer, Faith," he tells her seriously. "Her life expectancy has been drastically cut short and I don't wish to see you in pain if something was to ever happen to her."

Faith just stares at him for a minute. Something else is up; she can feel it. Giles has been watching their drama for a few months now and hasn't said a word about not wanting her to get involved, yet suddenly he's advocating for her to turn and run in the other direction? That doesn't sound like him; even if Buffy is the Slayer, he's always been on about how Faith needs to find love and fulfillment in her life.

Not that Buffy's gonna do that for her, but whatever. That's not the point right now.

"Giles, what the hell is really up?"

Giles looks uncomfortable at that question and turns his eyes downcast to his books as he shifts in his seat. "Nothing, Faith. I just wanted to make sure you weren't—"

"Cut the crap, G, and spill it. I ain't stupid; I know something's going on. You get all fidgety when you're hidin' something."

Giles sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. "I didn't want to alarm anyone…"

"The fuckin' apocalypse is knockin' at our door; pretty sure we're already alarmed," Faith tells him flatly.

"Yes, well," Giles continues, looking a little flustered and a lot like he didn't want to do this. He takes a breath, like he's mentally preparing himself to reveal something that's obviously hard for him. Finally he starts, "I was looking through The Codex last night and I… came upon a reference to the Master."

"'Kay, so what's the big deal? He got an undead legion of zombies under the earth with him or something?"

"No," Giles tell her before he swallows. It looks like it's painful for him to admit, but after a moment of stalling he finally spits it out, "It said that when Buffy faces the Master… she…" he takes a deep breath then finishes regrettably, "that she will die."

Faith stares at him for a moment, trying to take that information in but it was like her brain refused to process it. "Then you musta read it wrong," she tells him firmly, not about to believe something some stupid book says.

"I didn't."

"Well then the fuckin' book must be wrong!" Faith shouts, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table.

"This is The Codex – there is nothing in it that does not come to pass!" Giles exclaims, looking just as distraught as Faith should feel right now, except she's refusing to believe it. "I wish to God I were wrong, but it's very plain. She will die, Faith… I'm sorry."

Faith shakes her head violently, "No. No. Giles, just because some fucking dusty old book says something, doesn't mean it's true, alright? So just shut up about that shit!" She doesn't want him saying crap like that out loud, it's like he's jinxing it or something. Prophecies can kiss her ass; there's no way she's gonna let Buffy die. There's no way she's going to let anyone die.

"I'm sorry," Giles apologizes again, knowing this is going to be hard for Faith to understand and accept. "I wish that we could do something—"

"We can do something! For shit's sake, Giles, you can't just give up on her cause some stupid ass book says to! What the fuck kind of Watcher are you?" Faith shouts.

"I am not giving up on her!" Giles shouts, suddenly standing up to better make his point. "I don't wish this upon her any more than you do, Faith! And of course I will stand by her and I will train her but when the time comes for her to face him she has to do it alone!"

"Who says?" Faith exclaims. "Me and Kennedy are potential Slayers too, G; we're not gonna just fuck off and have a beer while Buffy does all the work!"

"Then you will die too!" Giles shouts, trying to get that through her head and see the realism in it. But Faith can't see anything besides the fact that her friend might die; everything else is kind of irrelevant at this point.

Faith stares at him, seething for a moment. Finally she tells him, her voice dangerously calm, "Then I die. But at least I'll fuckin' die knowing that I didn't just sit on my ass waiting for the world to end." She turns to walk away, but Giles calls out to her.

"You must not tell her, Faith."

"Of course I won't fuckin' tell her; I'm not about to freak her out over something that ain't even gonna happen," Faith snaps without even turning around. And then with three angry strides she's out the door, knowing that the faith she had in the only father figure she's ever known was just destroyed.

As the week wore on, Faith tried twice as hard during training. Even when Buffy wanted to quit and take a break, Faith would continue to come at her and tell her that breaks were for pussies. She got taken down time and time again, but she didn't give up. Soon, she was able to hold her own against Buffy at least for a little while before she got smacked down. Still, Faith knew it wasn't enough. What could she really do against the Master? She didn't have the strength of a Slayer; she was just a kid. Right now it just seemed like they were all waiting to die and she hated that.

But life went on; Faith tried to pretend everything was going to be fine. She did finally get her Homecoming dress, this black little number that she looked fucking fabulous in. Problem was, her selling her mom's stash kicked her into some serious withdrawal. Caroline wasn't going to get her next paycheck until the end of the week and so for five days she went without anything at all. She could barely even get up in the mornings. She was angry at Faith of course; once she told her she was just trying to get a stupid dress for Homecoming Caroline said she should have come to her first instead of going behind her back. She said they could have worked something out. Faith knows that's bullshit, yet also knows her Mum would like to believe that she could have somehow scrounged up the money. She wouldn't have been able to though; both of them know that.

Faith felt bad about it, but there was nothing she could really do now. Besides, for once she should be able to do something for herself. She's always taking care of her mother and for one fucking night she'd actually like to be a normal kid for once. Is that too much to ask? Hell, they might all die soon; the least she could do is try to have some of those memories normal people have; school dances and whatnot.

Its two days before Homecoming and everyone is gathered in the library. Wesley and Giles have been arguing for the better part of twenty minutes whether The Anointed One had risen yet while Faith and Kennedy team up to try and take down Buffy together. They were failing of course, but at least not miserably.

After a little while, Buffy holds up her hand to indicate that they should stop. Faith doesn't like that plan though and tries to come at her again, only to end up flat on her back after connecting with just one hit. Buffy looks down at her, out of breath. "What is with you lately?" she asks, noting the determination on her friend's face.

Faith groans a little as she sits up, trying to ignore the pain that seems to be, well, everywhere. "Just tryin' to train," she tells her, attempting to hide the pain behind her voice as Buffy helps her to her feet.

"Well you need to take a minute to relax before you end up breaking something," Buffy tells her, though smiles a little bit from Faith's efforts. "Besides, Willow and I have an announcement." She grins.

"Oh!" Willow exclaims, looking up from her books, suddenly interested in their conversation. Faith furrows her eyebrows and looks over at her friend, wondering what the hell has them both so excited.

Faith watches Willow get up and hurry over to them as Buffy announces, "Since Homecoming is in two days, my Mom said I can have you guys sleep over tomorrow so we can have a girl's night before the big dance!"

Willow looks positively excited by this prospect; however Faith and Kennedy share a look of disdain at the thought of braiding each other's hair and doing their toenails.

"Hey!" Xander protests, looking up from his book now too. "Feeling a little left out over here."

"Sorry," Buffy apologizes, giving him a regrettable look. "But my mom won't let me have guys over, even if they're just a friend."

Xander looks disappointed, but Faith interrupts, "Uh, B? Not really the sleepover type." Faith can't even remember the last time she had a sleepover, if she's even had one at all.

"Oh, come on; it'll be fun!" Buffy presses, giving her a toothy grin. She then bats her eyelashes to try to seem endearing, "Pleaaasssee?"

Damn her.

"You all still can't possibly be entertaining the idea that you will be able to go to Homecoming?" Giles asks, astounded once he actually gets wind of the conversation at hand.

"Uh, yeah?" Buffy replies, a little 'duh' attitude mixed in her words. "Come on Giles, we're allowed to have some fun!"

"Have you or have you not been listening to me?" Giles exclaims suddenly. "The two week mark – that falls on the night of your silly little dance!"

"We still aren't certain that's the night the Master will rise," Wesley interjects in his snooty little way. "All you've presented us with is guesswork, Mr. Giles. Until we get solid facts—"

"You bloody well know we don't have time to sit around and wait for solid facts!" Giles bursts out, fuming in Wesley's general direction.

"I'm not saying we should allow them to go, of course," Wesley tells him, straightening his tweed to try show the illusion that he feels put together, even though Giles yelling at him tends to shake him up a little. "We should continue training as usual."

"What? No!" Buffy protests, starting to get angry. "Giles!"

"What the fuck, G," Faith interrupts, looking at her Watcher. "Even if the Master does rise and starts to lay smack down on all us, the least you can fuckin' do is let us try to have a little fun – especially if it might be the last fun thing we ever do!" She shoots him a pointed look and he knows exactly what she's referring to: Buffy. "So I say screw you guys and your Nazi boot camp; we're going. B?" she turns to look at her.

"We're going," she tells both of her Watchers flatly. "And since I'm twice as strong as both of you combined, you can try to stop me, but I doubt you'll get very far. And since that may be my last night on earth, I think I'm allowed to spend it the way I want until destiny needs me."

Faith can tell it frightens her; the prospect of her dying in only two days. Maybe it's the Slayer in her though, but Buffy has been suppressing it really fucking well – way better than Faith could if she was her. It could just be because she faces death every day and this is just another day at the ranch, but they both knew deep down it was more than that. Maybe Buffy just learned to accept her destiny, but what would Faith know? Buffy doesn't talk to her; at least not after she had her panic attack. It's like she's been trying to protect her from everything even though she's smack dab in the middle of it all. It sucks, but then again Faith's never been a real big talker; she probably wouldn't know what to do or say if Buffy suddenly started sharing what was going on in her mind.

Wesley looks miffed by Buffy's statement, but Giles sighs as he relents softly. "You're right. I'm sorry, Buffy."

Buffy looks like she wasn't expecting that. "I am?" she falters. "I mean, I am. Of course I am."

"You're not gonna die, B," Faith tells her softly, just needing to say that out loud. Buffy looks over at her before leaning in, whispering in her ear:

"I know I won't. But they need to believe that so we can go to the dance together."

Faith can't help but smirk at that. Hell, even when the odds are stacked high against her, Buffy still doesn't back down. Maybe they were both stupid in attempting to be so adamant about death not even being an option, but it was far better than the alternative. Before Buffy pulls back she gives her a soft kiss on the cheek, which Faith allows under the circumstances.

If they do all manage to get out of this unscathed though, Faith's going to have to figure out what to do about all this, and fast. She's not a relationship person, she just isn't, and she knows she's gonna end up smashing Buffy's heart to little fucking pieces if she even tries. She likes her, okay? She does; she's not stupid and she's not denying it anymore.

But sometimes that just isn't enough… right?

Chapter Thirty-Four - The Sleepover

Once Buffy has her mind set on something, it's hard to persuade her otherwise. Faith isn't overly excited about the sleepover idea, yet she still finds herself outside of Buffy's house at seven o'clock whether she wanted to be there or not. She wasn't much into gossiping, doing each other's nails, or whatever it was that chicks did during these types of things, but it couldn't kill her to try to be an actual girl for once, right?

Those words are probably gonna come back to bite her in the ass.

"How long have you been standing out here?"

Faith turns around to see Kennedy trudge up the walkway behind her, smirking at Faith's complete lack of moving. She shrugs in response. "Not long. Just… kinda weird; never met B's folks before. And it ain't like I'm thrilled to be wearin' footie pajamas and talk about boys."

"Is that part of the deal?" Kennedy asks, a look of mock horror settling in over her features. "Because I'm about two seconds from making a run for it if that's what's going on."

Faith smirks, but doesn't comment on that. Instead she asks, "You ever been to a sleepover?"

"You haven't?" Kennedy asks, honestly surprised. Once Faith shakes her head Kennedy tells her, "They aren't all bad. The best ones usually involve liquor and spin the bottle though." She smirks, remembering. "You have no idea how many girls I can confuse in the span of a night. Good times."

"Wish I coulda brought some booze then, but I'm kinda on lock-down at the moment," Faith replies, sneering a little at the thought. Off of Kennedy's confused look she explains. "My Mum is… well, actually trying to be a Mum for once. Probably just some kinda phase, but until then I'm fucked."

"Bummer," Kennedy says, but then a small smirk creeps across her features. "Guess it's a good thing I have us taken care of then," she tells her with a grin as she pats her overnight bag. Faith's grin matches Kennedy's in a split second.

"Wicked," she approves. "Your parents?"

"Won't even know it's missing," Kennedy finishes with a sly grin.

"Well let's get this party started then," Faith replies, much more into this whole sleepover deal now that booze were involved. She's been deprived of the pleasure for this whole past week.

She turns and heads up the walkway to Buffy's house, Kennedy in tow behind her. It's weird, being outside of Buffy's house. Faith never really pictured it to be so… suburban. But the grass is freshly mowed, there's a few flowers surrounding the porch, and there's even a damn 'welcome' mat outside the door. It made her kinda freaked out that Buffy's Mom was gonna take one look at her and tell she's bad news; be all 'stay away from my daughter', or whatever. Parents always think that she's trying to corrupt their children. Willow's mom damn near had a heart attack when she first saw her.

Faith hesitates ringing the doorbell, still trying to swallow her irrational nervousness, but thankfully Kennedy takes the initiative to instead. "Pussy," she chuckles, to which Faith responds with her middle finger. She has to put it down quickly though once the door's opened.

"Buffy!" some kid that can't be more than twelve shrieks after she's opened the door. "Some more of your weirdo friends are here!"

"Shut up, Dawn!" comes Buffy's voice from inside the house. Both Faith and Kennedy share a look; Buffy never mentioned she had a little sister.

The kid, Dawn, gives Buffy a bratty look before she scampers off to do God only knows what kids do these days as Faith sees Buffy come down the stairs. "You guys can come in, you know," she tells them, since they're both still standing out on the porch like a couple of weirdos.

Maybe the kid was right about them.

"You didn't say you had a sister," Faith replies as she steps into Buffy's house, looking around. It's so… clean.

"Yeah well, I like to pretend I don't," Buffy tells her, rolling her eyes a little. "She doesn't exactly light up my life, as you can tell." She smiles at them though as she goes on, "But come on upstairs; Willow and Tara are already here."

"Buffy?" comes a voice from the dining room before an older woman appears, presumably Buffy's mother. She gives a warm smile as she sees the two guests and asks Buffy, "More friends?"

"Yeah, sorry. Mom, these are my friends Faith and Kennedy. Guys, this is my Mom, Joyce."

"Faith," Joyce greets, making Faith instantly feel weird just because of how nice she says her name. She's not used to many parents greeting her with a smile. "I was wondering when we'd get to finally meet you; Buffy talks about you all the time."

"She does?" Faith asks, astounded that someone would actually take the initiative to tell their parents about her. She's not exactly something to brag about.

"Mom!" Buffy protests, embarrassed. "I do not."

Joyce looks amused at her daughter's embarrassment, but doesn't push it. "Well you girls have fun. I have cookies baking in the oven; I'll let you know when they're ready."

"Great thanks, bye," Buffy stresses, her cheeks still adorning a slight blush as she grabs Faith's hand, practically manhandling her up the stairs. "Let's go."

"It was nice to meet you, Mrs. S!" Faith calls out as she's dragged up a flight of stairs, Kennedy laughing behind her at Buffy's mortification and Faith's obvious discomfort.

Even when they get to the top of the stairs, Buffy's still pulling her like she's training to be the damn Tug of War Champion. "B!" Faith protests, feeling a little like a rag doll. "Quit before ya end up pullin' off my damn arm."

"What? Oh, sorry," Buffy apologizes once she realizes what she's doing. She lets Faith go and blushes a little. Kennedy is still cracking up and she shoots her a glare. "Shut up."

"Didn't say anything," Kennedy replies though her chuckling. Buffy just huffs before she heads into her room, both of her guests following behind her.

Buffy's room was… well, fuckin' girly. Not that Faith expected anything different but it was like walking into some kind of alternate dimension with all the frills and stuffed animals on the shelves. Willow and Tara were sitting on the floor and they both smiled and greeted them as they came in. Buffy crosses the room to sit on her bed and Faith stands there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing where the heck she's supposed to sit. That is until Buffy says, "Faith, come over here," and pats the seat next to her on the bed.

Great.

Not that the bed ain't more comfortable than the floor cause hell, it is, but being on Buffy's bed with her is only gonna end up leading to bad thoughts; even there being a bunch of people over won't slow down her perversion. So Faith ends up saying, "Nah, it's cool; just sit on the floor like everyone else," as she takes a seat on the rug. Buffy makes a little grumpy face before she slides off her bed, sitting between Faith and Kennedy on the floor instead.

"I brought party favors," Kennedy exclaims suddenly, digging through her overnight bag and pulling out a bottle of… Patrón. Wicked. Faith makes a grab for the bottle, but Buffy uses one hand to push her back, keeping it out of her reach.

"Kennedy, my mom's home!" she protests.

"So?" Kennedy asks, not seeing the big deal.

"So she'll kill me if she finds out we're drinking up here!"

"Aw, come on, B; lighten up. Hell, we might all bite the big one tomorrow; might as well have one more night of drunken stupidity."

"We're not going to die, Faith," Buffy protests, narrowing her eyes at her. "So I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to jinx it."

"Not tryin' to jinx it, just tryin' to persuade ya into drinkin'," Faith replies, smirking. Buffy rolls her eyes and pushes her back with one hand.

"B-Buffy's right," Willow stammers a little, looking up at Faith. "We shouldn't drink when her mother's home."

"The fun is getting sucked right out of this room," Kennedy mumbles. Tara puts a hand on her knee comfortingly.

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do at a sleepover if we ain't gonna drink?" Faith complains, looking the bottle of tequila longingly.

"What normal people do during sleepovers Faith," Buffy tells her; she almost sounds like she's chiding her for fuck's sake. "Do each other's hair and talk about… well normally I'd say boys, but I think the majority of us here like girls."

"The cheese stands alone," Willow replies, sounding a little left out from the lesbian-fest. Faith laughs.

"Nah, Tara here's bisexual," Kennedy says, nudging her friend with her arm. Tara ducks her head down, hiding behind her hair.

"You are?" Willow asks. "You didn't tell me that."

"Well, she's only had one boyfriend; but ya liked him, right?" Kennedy asks, prodding Tara to open up a little. Tara nods as she answers.

"H-He… w-well, he was… sweet."

"See? So you aren't alone, Willow."

"And I've had boyfriends!" Buffy pipes up, which prompts Faith to roll her eyes and make a gagging sound. Buffy giggles but pushes her again, which makes Faith retaliate with a push of her own.

"Don't make me kick your ass, B!"

"I'd like to see you try, F," Buffy replies with a giggle as they continue to shove each other like immature toddlers.

"G-Guys… last time you did this you nearly broke Faith's room," Willow points out, watching the two of them getting into it again. They were just joking around but then again, they were last time too. Faith pushes Buffy back again, making the blonde retaliate by basically jumping on her, pinning her hands behind her back.

"And Buffy lost me ten bucks," Kennedy remembers, frowning.

"This Slayer strength ain't fair," Faith complains, trying to wiggle out of Buffy's grasp yet failing miserably. After a minute she gives up with a heavy sigh. "Fuckin' hate you." Buffy giggles, but lets her go, knowing that's Faith's way of saying she won.

There's a knock on the door then and Buffy and Faith attempt to establish distance between them when Joyce peeks her head into the room. "Buffy, I just got a call from the gallery; they need me to come in for a couple hours. Can you watch Dawn?"

Buffy groans in response. "Mom, she's twelve; she doesn't need a babysitter. I was babysitting her when I was twelve!"

"I didn't mean watch her like a hawk, Buffy," Joyce tells her patiently. "But please make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Fine, but she's not invited to my slumber party!" Joyce gives her an amused, but patient look. Sibling rivalry seemed to run rampant between those two.

"The cookies are out of the oven, you girls can help yourselves. I'll be back in a couple hours; please don't burn the house down while I'm gone." She gives them all a motherly smile before she slips from the room, heading back down the hall.

Faith immediately reaches for the tequila bottle. "Score!"

"Faith!" Buffy protests.

"What, B? You said that we couldn't drink while your Mum's here and she's leavin'." She grins wickedly at her as she pops the cork off the bottle. "Got any shot glasses?"

"No."

"Well fuck it then; we'll improvise. Ken?" she looks over at Kennedy, who has a grin from ear to ear.

"Body shots?" she asks hopefully.

"Body shots," Faith confirms as she holds up the bottle victoriously. "Come on, lay down."

"Faith!" Buffy protests, watching Kennedy lay down on her back and hike up her shirt as Faith makes her way over to her. "You are not going to do body shots in my house!"

"Chill, B; we're finally havin' some fun," she tells her as she pours some liquid into Kennedy's exposed navel.

"You're getting it all over my rug!"

"Well if Ken would quit wigglin' we wouldn't be having that issue," Faith retorts, just before she leans down, trailing her tongue over Kennedy's lightly tanned flesh. She can hear Buffy huff behind her before she wraps her mouth around Kennedy's navel, sucking the liquor into her mouth. Yeah, and that is how you do shots of tequila, bitches.

"Okay, no. This is like the start of a bad porn movie," Buffy protests, standing up. "I'm getting glasses before this turns into some kind of awkward orgy." She trudges out of the room, giving into the drinking idea since she knows she can't stop it anyway.

Faith laughs but once she looks up, Willow is shooting her a dirty look. "What?" she asks.

"Y-You know what," Willow answers, her eyes shifting over to look at Kennedy who's pulling her shirt back down. Faith rolls her eyes; it wasn't like she was mackin' on her or anything. Jeez.

When Buffy comes back, she's actually holding shot glasses. "Thought ya said you didn't have any," Faith says as Buffy hands her one.

"I don't, but apparently my Mom does." She settles down back next to Faith and sighs, "God, she's going to kill me if she finds out about this."

"Then don't tell her," Faith replies simply before she starts pouring everyone their shots.

It didn't take long for them to be on the right side of drunk and soon they were all laughing and having a good time. They started playing 'I never,' which turned into something vastly inappropriate once they all let their inhibitions go right out the window. But hey, that's how Faith likes it.

"I've never had anal sex," Kennedy says when it's her turn. Faith's the only one that takes a shot.

"Ew, really?" Buffy squeals, nearly toppling over as she giggles. "That's so gross, Faith."

"Don't knock it till ya tried it, Princess," Faith replies with a flirty wink, which makes Buffy blush from head to toe.

"I-I've never kissed a girl," Willow says next, which makes everyone else in the room take another shot.

"I'll kiss you," Kennedy offers with a smirk. "You know, so you don't feel left out or anything." Willow flushes red and looks down at the carpet.

Faith rolls her eyes and pushes Kennedy with one hand. She nearly falls over. "Back off, Ken. Red's straight." Kennedy grumbles, but leaves it.

"I've never hid my feelings from someone I liked," Buffy says, shooting a pointed look at Faith. Off of her glare, Buffy merely smiles at her innocently.

"Low blow, B," Faith replies, but relents and takes her shot. That is the game after all. It's surprising though when Tara takes another shot as well.

"Ohh, and the plot thickens," Kennedy says, smirking as Tara attempts to hide behind her hair again. "I feel so left out of the gossip, Tara. I'm hurt." She mockingly pouts as Tara stammers.

"I-I-It's n-nothing…"

"Lies, but I'll get it out of you later," Kennedy replies, sure of herself.

"I've never hid who I am," Faith says, now shooting a pointed look at Buffy.

"Okay, that's not fair; I'm the Slayer, I have to!" Buffy protests, but she does take her shot. She makes a 'blech' face afterwards, but sucks it up rather quickly. Faith laughs.

"Payback is a bitch," Faith replies before she stands up and announces: "I need to take a wiz, I'll be back."

"Charming, Faith," Buffy responds dryly, which prompts Faith to smirk at her before she heads out of Buffy's room and into the bathroom across the hall.

Once she's finished and is washing her hands, she turns as she hears the bathroom door click as it opens. "Wicked perverted, B," Faith teases as she sees Buffy walk in, closing the door softly behind her. "I coulda still been peein'."

"You're not," Buffy replies as she watches Faith dry her hands on the towel hanging from the rack. Faith catches her gaze in the mirror and furrows her eyebrows; Buffy's looking at her with some serious intent in her eyes.

"What's up?" Faith tries to ask casually, but it's pretty pointless seeing as she finds out in two seconds once Buffy presses her up against the bathroom counter. Faith's hand flies to the marble, her fingers curling around it as the blonde's lips connect with hers, her hand sliding through her dark tresses.

Faith can taste the tang of the tequila on Buffy's lips and feels the insistence behind her already ragged breathing and okay… this doesn't suck. Besides, until after the Master gets the smack down, Faith did consent to let anything that happens happen. Fuck it, right? End of the world at their doorstep, might as well have a bit of fun before the sky rains fire and shit. So she grabs Buffy's hips and pulls her closer, milking a soft moan from Buffy's lips that drove her fucking wild.

Buffy's drunk kisses are a little bit sloppy, but Faith finds she doesn't care much as the familiar fire in the pit of her stomach begins to burn hot with need. She groans against Buffy's lips and slides a hand down to her ass, cupping it roughly and making the blonde squeak out in surprise against her lips. Faith chuckles softly as Buffy retaliates by nibbling on her bottom lip before her tongue plunges back into her mouth like she's trying to consume everything that Faith is.

Faith knows she should be a good girl, but she can't help but push the line to see how far she can go. She expects Buffy's surprised exclamation of "Faith!" as she suddenly drops to her knees in front of her, but once she starts placing hot, open mouth kisses against Buffy's abdomen, her protests die in her throat and she slides her fingers through Faith's hair, tightening her grip. Buffy closes her eyes and lets out a soft whimper as Faith dips her tongue into her navel, which is quickly followed by Faith nibbling slightly on the tiny bit of baby fat that surrounds it. Buffy tasted sweeter than candy.

Faith's lips travel further upwards, her nails leaving light scratches in their wake as she slowly pushes up Buffy's shirt, kissing every inch of her skin she can reach. She knows it's a longshot but once she notices Buffy's not wearing a bra underneath her pajama top she pushes it all the way up, wrapping her mouth around an erect nipple. Buffy's gasp quickly turns into a moan and her fingers tighten in Faith's hair, nearly pulling it out of her head as Faith takes that moment to graze her teeth softly against her hardened nub, teasing her.

But once Buffy comes to her senses about what the heck is actually going on, she pushes Faith off of her lightly. "Faith," she tells her breathlessly, flushing a little as she fixes her shirt. "We can't…"

"Only second base, B," Faith mutters against her skin, not deterred as she decides to kiss Buffy's neck instead. Buffy bites on her bottom lip softly for a moment as she allows it, but then lightly pushes her off of her again.

"I know, it's just… I have other people over; we can't spend all night locked in here. It's rude."

"Not too concerned about bein' rude."

"Well I am, they're my guests," Buffy points out. Faith rolls her eyes and Buffy leans in, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry," she whispers against her lips. "You know I want nothing more than to stay here and make out with you all night."

"Should just kick them out," Faith suggests, smirking a little at Buffy's look of mock horror.

"I can't do that!"

"Sure ya can, it's easy. You say: sorry guys but Faith needs to slide into second tonight, so get to steppin'." Faith smirks as she admits, "Though I'll probably try to steal third while I'm at it." Buffy swats her on the arm lightly.

"Stop," she tells her, blushing a little. "We've had this discussion."

"Yeah, yeah; relationship first. Frankly, I dunno how you ever manage to get laid," Faith tells her as she opens the bathroom door, heading into Buffy's room. She can hear her scoff in offense behind her and she smirks.

That is the problem though; Buffy wanting a relationship first. But that's not Faith's problem now so she ignores the little voice in the back of her head telling her that she's only complicating shit so much worse. Whatever, Buffy ain't complaining so why the hell should she be? In a way, this kind of makes for a pretty sweet arrangement; she can stick her tongue down Buffy's throat whenever she wants but can still go and fuck other people. Who wouldn't want that? Still, the fact that Buffy's still sporting that annoying lesbian chastity belt is frustrating. More than frustrating, actually, seeing as now Faith's whole body is aching to just shove her against a wall and fuck her brains out.

Which is never gonna happen.

Once Faith steps into the room, her forearm is grabbed by Kennedy. "We're going to go get some cookies," she tells Buffy.

"We are? When did I become part of this plan?" Faith asks, feeling a little overwhelmed from all the damn manhandling these women are doing to her today.

"You're always hungry," Kennedy answers.

Point.

"Fine, cookies sound good. Anyone else gonna kick it with us gettin' fat in the kitchen?" A chorus of no's fill Faith's ears and she shrugs. "Whatever, your loss," she tells them before Kennedy is practically dragging her down the hall.

"Okay, enough with the freakin' pulling!" Faith exclaims, wrenching her arm from Kennedy's grasp. "I swear you all think I'm some kinda rag doll, shit." Kennedy laughs and takes the stairs two at a time, bounding into the kitchen. Faith follows.

When they reach their destination Buffy's little sister is already down there, taking advantage of the cookie situation too. "Sup, Half Pint," Faith greets. The girl narrows her eyes at the nickname and swallows her cookie.

"I have a name," she responds in a bratty attitude.

"Right. Dawn, yeah?" Faith asks as she slides onto one of the stools situated at the island counter. She looks over at Kennedy, who throws her a cookie. Faith catches it easily.

"Who are you?" the kid, Dawn, asks. "You're not another one of her cheerleader friends are you? Because I don't like them."

Faith snorts. "Do I look like a cheerleader to you, kid?" She takes a bite of her cookie as she swoops he hands down her form, making her point.

Dawn eyes her up, but seems to come to the conclusion that no, Faith is definitely not a cheerleader. "What are you then?" she asks.

"Last I checked I was a human being. What about you?"

Kennedy sniggers.

"Ha, ha," Dawn replies, rolling her eyes. "I meant what team are you on? Isn't everyone in high school on a team? That's what my friend Michelle said."

"I bat for the other team," Faith replies, sharing an amused look with Kennedy. Hey, it's true at least; ain't like she's jerking the kid around too bad.

"Do you play baseball?" Dawn asks, trying to understand.

"No."

Kennedy's trying not to die of laughter and almost chokes on a cookie. Faith smirks and breaks off a piece of hers to throw it at her as Dawn looks at both of them suspiciously.

"You guys are weird," she informs them before she slips off her stool and retreats into the living room. Kennedy collapses into a fit of giggles.

"That was fucking priceless," she told Faith, taking a breath to try to get her laugher under control so she doesn't end up choking again. Faith chuckles.

"It was too easy – not my fault."

Kennedy smirks as she leans against the kitchen counter in a way that practically shoved her breasts into Faith's line of sight. When Faith cocks an eyebrow at her, Kennedy responds by seductively licking her lower lip. Faith laughs a little at that; she can't help it.

"Subtle, Ken," she teases. She knows that look in her friend's eye: she wants to fuck. "But we're in B's house."

"She isn't going to find out," Kennedy presses, shooting her a naughty little grin.

"This is her house."

"So? We can go out in her backyard; she won't see us, I promise," Kennedy pushes, coming over to her and wrapping her arms around her torso from behind. She presses her lips to Faith's ear and whispers throatily, "All this liquor though… it's making me miss the taste of you. I want you to fuck my face, Faith… and then after you cum I promise we can come right back in like nothing happened. You don't even have to reciprocate."

Faith would like to think that she has enough morals to say no to that, but the sad fact is… she doesn't. Buffy already got her wound up in the bathroom, she's horny like fuck, and more than slightly intoxicated. Honestly on a scale of one to stupid right now, Faith's ranking pretty damn high in the unintelligence column. But come on… who can resist an offer like that? None of the work and all of the glory; sounds like a day at the friggin' beach for her.

"You got five minutes," Faith tells her as she gets up, grabbing Kennedy's hand and pulling her towards the back door. She glances behind her out of a brief moment of paranoia but when she doesn't see anyone she walks out onto the back porch, hoping to hell that Kennedy can make this quick.

"Five minutes is all I need," Kennedy breathes as she pushes Faith up against the side paneling of the house, kissing her briefly, yet passionately as her hands tug on Faith's leathers. Her lips leave hers as soon as she figures out how to get Faith's pants down (surprisingly leather pants seems to perplex the majority of Faith's lovers) and she drops to her knees, wasting no time in wrapping her mouth around Faith's wanton sex.

Faith stifles a moan, biting it back as she closes her eyes; she doesn't want to be loud… just in case. She's more than aware that she's doing a really shitty thing; but at the same time, a girl's gotta get off somehow. Still, she probably should have waited till she was out of Buffy's house, but goddamnit that'd mean a full night of uncomfortable squirming and little to no sleep. That doesn't exactly equal 'fun' in her book.

Faith's already horny so it doesn't take long for Kennedy to get her right to the edge. Faith will say one thing about the girl: she does know how to eat some pussy. She does this little vibrating thing with her tongue ring that gets Faith's clit throbbing in a matter of seconds. She grasps Kennedy's hair, holding her down there as she presses her hips further into her face. Faith's breathing is labored, her nipples are standing at attention, and she knows she's about to fucking explode in two seconds so she grunts, trying to be as quiet as humanely possible, "More."

Kennedy takes her clit between her teeth and runs her tongue flat against it before flicking it back and forth quickly, which makes Faith have to stifle another moan as she feels her walls begin to pulsate inside of her. "Fuck," she breathes, practically shoving Kennedy's face halfway up her cunt as she begins to come, biting on her lower lip so hard that she's probably bleeding. But fuck it, she needed to stay quiet. And goddamn did she need that.

When Faith opens her eyes, she half expects Buffy to be standing in the backyard. She breathes a sigh of relief when she doesn't see her, but that ends quickly once she turns to look at the door. Faith nearly jumps out of her fucking skin when she sees Buffy standing there, arms wrapped around herself like she's trying to keep herself together. Her jaw is locked and she looks halfway between upset and furious.

Oh god, how long has she been standing there?

"Get out," Buffy tells her flatly. Her voice is oddly calm for the expression on her face. A tear slowly falls down her cheek but she doesn't act like she's even aware that she's crying. She's probably too pissed to care about any other emotion she may be having right now.

"Oh, shit," Kennedy says as she scrambles to her feet, finally taking notice that they weren't alone. Faith frantically pulls up her pants, torn between trying to smooth this over with Buffy and decking Kennedy in the fucking face because she promised Buffy wouldn't catch them.

She chooses to attempt to deal with Buffy. "B…" she tries, about to spew out a bunch of apologizes that she knows won't make any difference, but she's interrupted.

"Get out before I beat you within an inch of your life."

Oh shit. The look on Buffy's face says she's not kidding and as sorry as Faith is, she's not about to forfeit her life over it. Fuck, this is gonna end up being one of those stories she tells in her AA meetings years from now; another 'how I fucked everything up' story.

"Buffy, we're so sorry," Kennedy tries, actually looking like she feels a little bad for throwing that in her face like that. "We didn't think that you'd—"

"You too," Buffy tells her, voice dangerously calm. "And I swear to God if I see either of you on my property again, I'll kill you." She walks inside and slams the door on their faces then, leaving them locked outside.

Kennedy sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "Jeez, melodramatic much?" she mumbles. Faith's eyes flash and she pushes Kennedy up against the porch railing hard. The younger girl cries out in pain, then a look of anger crosses over her face. She doesn't retaliate though; she knows that'd be a stupid move.

"Just shut the fuck up, Kennedy," is all Faith offers her before she storms off, hating the goddamn world.

Why she was made with decision making capabilities, she'll never know. Obviously she can never make any fucking good ones.

Chapter Thirty-Five - Homecoming

Faith knows she's pushing it once she shows up in front of Buffy's house to pick her up for the dance. In her defense though, Kennedy's parents rented them all a limo and she'd be a fucking idiot if she didn't take advantage of that; this will probably be the one and only time in her life that she'll be able to ride in one.

She's not alone though, thankfully. Xander, Kennedy, Tara, and Willow are already in the limo and have been urging Faith not to be stupid and try to greet Buffy when she comes out, but Faith hasn't exactly been the queen of smart decisions lately. So she's standing on Buffy's walkway, waiting for her to emerge from her house. She knows she's running the risk of being decked in the face, but she still needs to try anyway; she feels fucking horrible about what happened.

Sure, Faith is still under the belief that she should be able to fuck whoever she wants, but there's a huge difference in doing it and doing it in front of Buffy. Not that she meant for Buffy to see it, but still; she knew the risks. Regardless of her intentions, it was still really cruel and she wishes she could have listened to her brain over her pussy for once, but she doesn't have high hopes that that will ever happen. She's just a fuck up; she's known that her whole life and she's been trying to tell Buffy that, but she hasn't listened. Problem is, maybe she finally is listening and Faith isn't exactly sure how she feels about that. She should feel relieved but she doesn't, she just feels like an ass; an ass who feels sorry for themself.

But she made her bed; she can either lie in it or try to make things better. Faith chose the latter.

When Buffy emerges from her house, Faith has to remind herself to keep breathing. Buffy is beautiful normally, but in that white dress? God, she was fucking stunning. Faith's never been one to trip over her tongue around a girl, but at the moment it feels like it's tangled around her feet. Once Buffy sees her though she literally grinds to a halt, her face becoming stone cold.

"Faith, just back away slowly," Xander hisses at her from inside the limo. She doesn't listen, of course.

"Got ya this," Faith says quietly, holding out a long stemmed rose towards her. She's never been the romantic type, but she figured flowers might do her some good in getting maybe a little bit of forgiveness. She could only afford one, so right now she's praying that one is as good as six or twelve.

Buffy stares at the rose for a moment, face expressionless. Finally she reaches out for it and Faith thinks that maybe, just fucking maybe everything isn't complete shit, but that delusion shatters once Buffy crushes the petals in her fist before throwing the flower to the ground. She says nothing.

"Uh," Faith stumbles for a second, not expecting the silence. She was prepared for being yelled at, for being punched in the face, but she wasn't prepared for Buffy to do or say nothing. So she tries plan B. "Okay, so roses are out," she says, knowing she sounds incredibly nervous and hating every damn second of it. She hands Buffy the small box in her hand and tells her, "Luckily the corsage I got you doesn't have roses; it's white lilies… since I remembered you sayin' you were gonna wear white and all."

"Keep it," Buffy tells her, voice dangerously even. "You're not my date anymore." She brushes past Faith to climb into the limo and the brunette just stands there for a second, sighing heavily. Well, ain't like she wasn't expecting that. She knew it'd be a long shot if Buffy still wanted to go with her, but she couldn't help but try anyway.

Once they got to the dance (after a very tense ride in the limo), Buffy immediately attached herself to Willow and Tara, who seem to be on the same side as her after everything that went down. Kennedy stormed off, pissed that even her best friend wouldn't talk to her, and Faith hung back with Xander, not having the slightest fucking clue about what to do.

"You're an idiot, you know," he tells her finally, once they've situated themselves near the very nonalcoholic punchbowl with the rest of the losers.

"Thanks, Xand," she replies dryly before taking a sip of her punch. She wishes she had vodka.

Xander sighs. "Faith, I've heard about your womanly conquests for over a year now, but not once have I ever seen you this hung up on a girl. Do you think maybe that means something?"

"Yeah, it means I shouldn't try to get involved with bitches for more than a night. It fucks up the natural order of shit." She stares at the empty cup in her hand before she crushes it, throwing it to the floor.

"When have you ever tried to get involved with her?" Xander contradicts, making a valid point. "You've been pushing her away like she's carrying the disease that's going to start the next zombie apocalypse."

"Don't talk about apocalypses," Faith groans, remembering tonight could very well be the night. She hopes it's bullshit and seeing as nothing weird has gone down yet it probably is, but still. "Where's G anyway? Didn't he say he was gonna chaperone this shit just in case the Master like, I dunno, fuckin' flies out of the sky and tries to kill us all?"

"He's probably around somewhere, Miss Change-The-Subject."

"Whatever," Faith retorts, knowing that isn't the most mature response in the world but not caring in the slightest.

Her eyes land on this little nerd boy that's been staring at her for the better half of ten minutes and getting fed up, she asks, "What? You need a fuckin' picture or something or is the image of me you're gonna jack off to later clear enough in your mind?"

The boy flushes about ten shades of red and scampers off and Xander looks like he's trying not to laugh. "That was mean," he tells her, yet still looks amused by it nonetheless.

"The kid was fuckin' staring at me; creepin' me out, man."

"Look, maybe you should just try to talk to her," Xander suggests, getting back on topic. Faith's face darkens at that suggestion. "I mean, she won't hit you in a gym full of people, right?"

"Wouldn't be too sure about that," Faith mumbles.

"Just go," Xander tells her, sounding tired of repeating himself. "You know you're gonna regret it if you don't fix things between the two of you."

"And how can I fix it, Xand? I mean really? She fuckin' walked in on me getting fucked by another chick!" Faith exclaims, angry. That shit doesn't magically fix itself, even if she'd like it to.

"Well, I knew that lesbian love-fest wouldn't last long." Faith and Xander turn to see Cordelia pouring herself a glass of punch on the opposite side of the table. "Xander, I need to speak with you," she says, completely ignoring the death glare Faith's giving her. Her voice is hushed and she's looking around like she's hoping no one's overhearing her speak to them.

"I'm kind of in the middle of something, Cordelia," Xander tells her flatly.

"So? I'm more important."

"Bitch, unless you start hiking up that skirt of yours and spreadin' your legs, really don't think Xander's gonna give much of a fuck," Faith tells her harshly. "Your tongue can only do so much before it's required to be wrapped around his dick."

"Xander!" Cordelia exclaims, looking incredibly offended for the first time in like… ever. Usually the bitch can take as much as she can dish out, but sex seems to be a sore spot with her. Faith's starting to wonder if she's a virgin, which would be so fucking laughable. "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

"You're not his girlfriend so I'm thinkin'… yeah."

"Just… give us a minute, okay?" Xander requests, looking embarrassed by Faith's comments. "Please, Cordy?"

Faith's never seen Cordelia look hurt until that moment. But she tries to suppress it as much as she can and replace it with her bitch attitude. "Whatever, I don't even know why I bother trying to talk to losers. I'm all for good deeds, but this is too far." She storms off, making Xander look torn between going after her and staying here to deal with Faith.

Faith notices this and asks, "What the hell is up with her? Thought you said she's jerking you around, so why would she care?"

"I… don't know," Xander admits, looking a little perplexed. "She's been acting weird ever since that football player died. Weirder, I should say."

Ah, the football player she was cheating on Xander with. Well, not cheating since they ain't actually together… but regardless. The one she was being a fucking whore with.

"Weirder how?"

Xander shrugs, looking a little embarrassed. "She's… talking to me." He fidgets a little, his eyes shifting to look over at Cordelia in the distance.

"And this is news how? Unfortunately she has a mouth; bitch talks to me and I wish she didn't."

"No, she's… talking to me," Xander reiterates, trying to make her understand. "Like about stuff that's going on in her life. Granted she's still hiding me in closets and stuff, but I think… maybe she's starting to trust me?" He looks perplexed by that conclusion.

"That's fucking weird, dude."

"You're telling me."

While Xander's off staring into the distance at Cordelia, Faith can't help but let her eyes wander until they land on Buffy. She looks like she's trying to force herself to have fun to appease Willow and Tara who are advocating it, but Faith can read the pain all over her face. It makes her feel sick because she knows she's the one that caused it. Normally she couldn't care less, if it was any other bitch she'd ignore it and move on, but for some reason she just… can't with Buffy. Why the fuck does she care so much? Why her? Out of everyone in this world why did it have to be her?

She wasn't ready for this. But then again, if this happened when she was twenty five, would she have been ready for it then? She's lived this specific lifestyle for so long that it just… freaks her out when someone comes along and upsets it. Faith's not exactly a control freak, but she does like to have some things in her life stay the same for her own peace of mind.

See what happens when her peace of mind is fucked with? Someone always gets hurt.

Problem is, Faith knows it's not just Buffy that's hurt; she's hurting too. Which is so fucked to admit but there it is, in black and white: Faith's hurt. She's spent so long pretending she doesn't have feelings that when she realizes that she might actually be a human being it kind of fucks her sideways. Not that Faith wants to date her or anything, she's still firmly on that side of the fence but… shit, she has no idea what she wants. She just wants her to be around. Can't that be enough?

Probably not, but Faith's stubborn anyway.

"I'm gonna go be suicidal," she tells Xander, which seems to throw him from his stare-longingly-at-Cordelia daze. He looks confused but Faith doesn't reiterate, she just walks away, heading towards Buffy.

She has no idea why she's doing this. She's so gonna get punched in the face. But fuck it, right? Probably what she deserves and until Buffy gets her anger out, ain't like they can move forward; if they can even move past this at all.

Buffy stiffens once she realizes Faith's coming over to her. She keeps constant eye contact with her though, almost like she's trying to flay her alive on the spot. It makes Faith feel a little uneasy.

"Hey," the brunette greets softly. She has the intense urge to shove her hands in her pockets but unfortunately the damn dress she's wearing has no pockets so the end result is her doing some weird ass things with her hands before she decides to keep them contained behind her back. "Uh, do you want to dance?" She has no idea why she just said that. Of course she doesn't.

"You seriously have the balls to ask me that right now?" Buffy replies, looking at her in disbelief and anger.

"Didn't mean to – just kinda popped out of my mouth," Faith mumbles. God, she sucks at this. "Look I didn't—"

"Actually fine, we can dance," Buffy interrupts, cutting her off. Faith looks confused.

"What?"

But Buffy grabs her hand, pulling her onto the dance floor. Since the world seems to hate Faith's life though, a slow song comes on just as they do. Buffy wastes no time wrapping her arms around Faith's neck as the brunette awkwardly slides her hands around her waist. She doesn't do slow dancing; in fact, she's never slow danced in her entire life. With her luck she's gonna end up stepping on Buffy's feet.

"I'm only doing this because people have been harassing me," Buffy tells her, still sounding really pissed off with her as they swayed gently to the music. "The popular kids," she reiterates, sounding a little bitter because she used to be one of those kids, "They've been asking me where my girlfriend is and I'd rather not deal with their shit right now. So you get one dance and if your hands wander I'm going to forcefully remove them from your body. Understand?"

"Who the fuck's been sayin' shit?" Faith asks, pulling away a little like she's ready to beat the crap out of everyone in this room, but Buffy forcefully pulls her back towards her.

"It doesn't matter. Just shut up; it's not important. Besides, I really don't want to hear your voice right now."

"But B—" she doesn't want to just stand here if people are giving her shit.

"I said shut up," Buffy hisses, the tone in her voice clearly meaning she is not kidding. Faith relents and shuts up for a moment, but not long.

The music is almost tortuous as they dance slowly, in silence. Faith can almost feel Buffy fuming and she wishes she could go back in time and just fix everything. But that's not possible and all she has is here and now, so she knows she has to say something. After all, she figures if Buffy wants to keep up appearances that badly then her chances of coming out of this whole thing with a broken bone has been significantly lessened.

"I'm really sorry, Buffy," she whispers. Faith can feel the blonde stiffen in her arms and she's pretty sure Buffy just made a fist in an attempt to control herself from hitting her.

"Are you deaf? I told you to shut up."

"Look, I have to say this," Faith tries, but Buffy starts shaking her head and pulling away from her. "B, please. I… I didn't mean to hurt you." Buffy untangles herself from Faith but the brunette grabs onto her forearm to prevent her from walking away. Her voice is a little desperate as she tries to explain, "I'm just a fuckin' idiot, okay? I wasn't thinking."

"And that's supposed to make everything all better?" Buffy snaps, eyes like fire as she glares at her. "News flash, Faith: you never fucking think! That still doesn't give you the right to fuck another girl in my house!"

A few heads turn in their direction from the decibel of Buffy's voice, but she's not even looking at them. She's staring directly at Faith, all the anger and all the hurt practically pouring from her eyes.

"I was drunk—"

"You're always drunk!" Buffy exclaims, pointing at her accusingly. "You're always drinking and doing stupid things and I sit here and let you over and over again because somewhere in my deluded mind I think you're going to change, but you never do! You're always going to be selfish, Faith; and you're always going to be alone." She turns around to storm off, but Faith grabs her again, needing to somehow stop this from becoming a goddamn train wreck.

"Ken doesn't mean anything to me, B! Not like…" but Faith trails off, unable to finish. She's much too aware of the attention they've earned from the other students because of their fight.

"Not like what?" Buffy snaps, whirling around and getting in her face. "You can't say it, can you? Not when everyone's fucking listening. You can't admit that you give a shit." Faith stares at her, but she doesn't say anything. She can't. And why should she? It's not like it's any of their goddamn business how she may or may not feel about someone. "That's what I thought," Buffy says, sounding angry and hurt as she backs away from her.

"Look, we… we're not even together, Buffy…" Faith tries, attempting to find an excuse for her asshole behavior. She knows instantly she shouldn't have said that, even before Buffy's fist collides with her face and she falls to the ground.

"That still didn't give you the right, you stupid, selfish whore!" Buffy screams, tears brimming her eyes. "Twice you've done this to me now. Twice." As Faith cradles her cheek, she remembers Trish and when Buffy walked in on them. Fuck, she's right. "Well I'm not going to let you do it a third time," Buffy tells her, voice shaking a little before she turns and flees, leaving Faith broken and bruised on the floor.

"Faith!" Xander exclaims, running over to her to help her up once he saw her lying on the floor. He looks behind him and sees Buffy storming out of the gym. "Are you okay?" he asks, turning back to Faith and looking torn between thinking she deserved it and being sympathetic.

"I don't even know why I fuckin' try," Faith grumbles, pressing her knuckles to her cheek and hoping that somehow it would magically stop the bruising. God, she's gonna look like a fucking wreck tomorrow. Everyone's still staring at her though so she bursts out angrily, "Anyone have anything to fuckin' say? Cause I could use a good punching bag right now! Fuck off!"

That seems to make everyone mind their own business, at least for a little while. Xander takes her arm and brings her to the back of the gym, away from everyone's prying ears. "Sorry," he apologizes. "I guess maybe you shouldn't have said something so soon."

"Ya think?" Faith snaps.

Xander sighs. "Maybe after a few days she'll cool off…"

"She hates me, Xand. Like, for real fuckin' hates me. Doesn't matter if I give her a week or a year, ain't gonna change anything," Faith replies, trying to keep her voice even though saying it out loud hurt like hell. "I'm such a fuckin' idiot," she mumbles.

"Yeah, you are," Xander agrees softly. Faith wishes she could be pissed at him for agreeing with her, but she knows it's the truth; hell, she wouldn't have said it otherwise.

Faith slumps against the wall, content on just sitting there and brooding, at least, that is, until she sees Angel come through the gym doors like his ass is on fire. Faith straightens up immediately, already knowing in her gut what's going on before he opens his mouth.

"Buffy—"

"Where is she?" Faith interrupts, her stomach dropping to the floor in fear. For once she's not pissed that he's being super freaky stalker boy, in fact she's kind of glad for it. "Where, Angel?" she reiterates, hoping to fuck he doesn't say she went off to bitch slap the Master. A vamp, fine; Buffy can handle that. A demon; no problem. But him? All Faith can hear in her head is Giles telling her that Buffy's gonna die and she's starting to freak out.

"The Anointed One," Angel tells her, worry crossing his own features. "I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't—"

Faith feels like she's going to vomit.

"How did you know it was the Anointed One?" Xander asks, still not trusting Angel or his judgment. "I thought we weren't even sure if he rose yet!"

"Where the fuck did she go?" Faith yells, not giving a fuck if it was even really the Anointed One or not; fact is Buffy's still out there about to walk into a death trap alone. "ANGEL!"

"I could smell the power on him; on the child," Angel answers Xander before he turns to Faith. "And I've done some looking around this past week; I'm almost positive the entrance the vampires have been using to the Master's prison can be found in a mausoleum in Oak Hill."

Oak Hill, Faith knew that cemetery; it was close to here. Fuck, Buffy could already be dead; she's been gone for at least ten minutes and the cemetery was only five minutes away. Faith's starting to feel sick and she tries to control it but all she can do is wonder why the fuck they're all still standing around like this; they could talk on the way, damnit!

"A mausoleum?" Xander asks, not seeing the logic in an above ground stone burial site being the entrance to the Master's underground prison.

Angel doesn't have time to answer him though because Faith suddenly takes off running, "Get Giles!" she hollers back to Xander. Fuck this, she isn't waiting. Buffy could be fucking dying.

"Faith, you can't—!"

But Faith ignores him and just keeps on running. Her hearts pounding in her ears and her legs are screaming in pain as she runs all the way to the cemetery, barely stopping for a breath. Maybe it's the adrenaline but pain, breathing? None of that fucking mattered right now. The only thing that mattered is that Buffy was stupid enough to go off on her own. Faith can't help but blame herself; maybe Buffy was too pissed to come back and ask for help, or maybe she thought that because she was so angry she'd have enough rage to beat him… whatever it was, Faith was sure at least part of it was her fault. That sickened her. She knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if Buffy's death was on her hands.

And so she runs faster, pumps her legs harder as she zigzags between the graves, trying to reach the mausoleums in the back. Faith has no idea which one it is and she should have waited for Angel to tell her, but it's too late now. Out of the corner of her eye though she sees a shadow and she knows… she knows that's the way she needs to go. Follow the vamps, right? Cause no one in this town is stupid enough to roam around a graveyard at night, not anymore.

Faith only stops for a moment to grab her stake from her boot before she practically tackles the vampire that's exiting one of the mausoleums. "Where is she?" she screams, fear in the back of her mind as she lands a punch square to the vampire's jaw. "WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?" She knows he's not going to answer but she's frantic.

The vampire snarls and knocks her to the ground like an annoying insect, but Faith ignores the pain and gets to her feet before he can get on top of her. Fuck him, fuck his goddamn strength; it didn't matter. She was going to fucking kill him. "Tell me!" she screams as she hits him in the face; once, twice. He lands a punch after and her back collides with the cold stone of the mausoleum before he grabs her arms, pinning her in place.

His fangs are descending and it takes every bit of her strength to get him off of her. But then suddenly it's like she's hit with some serious fucking adrenaline and her next hit that connects with him makes him go flying. Faith stands there, shocked as the vampire tries to get to his feet. She can feel it; every inch of her is starting to feel more alive; stronger, faster, better. "No!" she cries, knowing exactly what's happening. "No, no, no!" she screams, coming after the vamp and dusting him without barely exerting any effort.

"Buffy!" she screams, leaving the vampire to collapse in a pile of dust as she starts running into the mausoleum. There's a hole in the ground, an entrance near the back and she jumps down without a second thought, running down the tunnel, deeper under the earth. She can smell the soil; the dampness of the earth like it's right under her nose. She can see almost clearly in the darkness, she can hear cars passing from a mile away like they're right next to her.

Faith knows, she fucking knows with every fiber in her being that she just became the Slayer. She also knows that could only mean one thing, but she refuses to believe it. Instead, she keeps running faster, calling out Buffy's name and praying to God that she'll answer her.

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