Chapter Thirty-Nine - Date Night

"Mum, I'm fuckin' freaking out!" Faith exclaims as she bursts though the door of her mother's room, looking completely overwhelmed.

She's supposed to be picking Buffy up for their date in less than two hours and she still has no idea what the hell she's going to do. She thought about asking Xander, or maybe even Willow, but neither of them have much experience when it comes to dating and she seriously needs to wow Buffy if she expects her to hate her a little less come morning. She has no idea if her mother can help, but she's out of options at this point.

"What's wrong? Are you in trouble?" Caroline asks, instantly alert as she stands up, crossing the room to come over to her daughter. "Fai, what happened?"

"No, Mum, it's not… fuck," Faith replies, shaking her head. "It's nothing like that. I just… B, Buffy… I asked her out. And I'm such an idiot cause I'm so fuckin' far out of my comfort zone right now and I have no clue where I'm gonna take her, what we're gonna do, what the hell I'm even gonna wear…" She sighs, running her fingers through her hair. This whole thing is turning her into such a pansy girl. "This is a freakin' nightmare."

Caroline puts her hand over her mouth, a smile peeking out through her astonishment. Great, she's totally gonna make a big deal out of this. "Oh, sweetie!" she exclaims, more happy about this than should be legal. "Your first real date! This is so exciting! See, what did I tell you about that Buffy girl? I knew she would be perfect for you!"

"Yeah, great. Whatever," Faith dismisses, not really in the mood to be looked at and talked to like she's cuter than a goddamn stuffed animal. "Look, I actually need help here, Mum; so can you please get past the whole proud mother thing for like two seconds before my head explodes and there is no date? In case you haven't noticed, I'm freaking out here!"

"Okay, okay," Caroline relents, though still looks like Christmas came early. "Don't worry, dear; we'll figure out something. Come on," she tells her as she walks into Faith's room. Faith exhales a heavy breath but trudges along behind her, hoping she'll somehow find a way to pull this crap off.

As Caroline starts searching through her closet, Faith flops down on her bed. "Have you thought about that club… what's the one you like; The Blondes?" Caroline asks. Faith's pretty sure she's getting a migraine already.

"The Bronze," she corrects, "and we always fuckin' go there. I'm supposed to be wowing her, not giving her the same Friday night she always has."

"You could consider the popular dinner and a movie combo," Caroline suggests lightly, still searching through Faith's wardrobe.

"With what money?" Faith counters. "I'm the one who asked her out; I'm supposed to be the one paying for shit, here. Or so that's what TV tells me."

"Don't worry about money," Caroline tells her, yet doesn't elaborate because she pulls out the sundress she almost made Faith wear to church one time. "How about this?"

"That's so… girly," Faith complains. "I mean, can't I just wear what I'm wearing? Or is that gonna make me look like a douche because I didn't take the time to pick out the 'perfect' outfit," she mocks the word with air quotes. "And see that's another thing – I don't know if she wants me to be the guy or not! Like, wait… is this guyish enough?" she asks, motioning to her leathers and wife beater, "or do I need to kill my fashion sense with flannel because that's gonna fuckin' blow if I gotta do that. Besides—"

"Faith!" Caroline exclaims, trying to stop her mouth from running a mile a minute. "You're rambling, honey. I understand you're nervous and that this is a huge step for you, but Buffy likes you for who you are; you don't have to change that. However, I do suggest changing out of that outfit – especially if she saw you in it already because yes, it will make you look like a douche and like you don't care enough. Girls like it when they can see you've made an effort."

Faith sighs, leaning back to lie on her bed. She stares at the ceiling. "I fucked up with her, Mum," she admits. "Like… big time. And for once in my life I'm actually trying to fix things with a chick and I just… I got no idea how. This date needs to be huge or she's still gonna think I'm always gonna be the asshole that hurts her."

Caroline frowns and comes over to sit next to her on the bed. "What happened?" she asks softly, looking at her daughter sympathetically. Faith sighs.

"Fucked another chick at her sleepover. She caught us."

"Faith…" Caroline starts, disapproval in her tone.

"I know, I know," Faith replies. "Trust me; I know I'm an idiot. But I didn't even think it'd really matter since we weren't actually dating, but apparently Buffy doesn't see it that way. She says I broke her heart."

Caroline frowns, looking down at Faith as she smoothed her hair away from her forehead. "Well, I think it really shows you care for her to try to fix this, Faith. I'm proud of you, no matter how many stupid decisions you may make." She gives her a light smile, to let her know she's half joking.

"Thanks, Mum," Faith replies flatly, feigning offense. But she sighs, sitting up. "Okay, I figure it this way; I want her to realize I'm actually makin' an effort, right? So as much as I hate it, think I'm gonna wear the dress. Cause, y'know, then she'd be all 'oh, she dressed up for me,' or whatever, right?" She looks to her mother for confirmation.

"That sounds like a good idea," Caroline tells her, smiling. "And since you don't want this to be a regular, everyday date, I have an idea. There's a lake not too far from here; it's romantic, secluded. You can borrow my car and I can give you directions, if you want."

"Xander's already lettin' me borrow his," Faith tells her, then pauses for a moment to think about the lake idea. She makes a face, unsure of how that's going to work out. "And I dunno… I mean what the hell are we gonna do at a lake? I don't know shit about romance, Mum. And I'm damn sure not gonna get down on one knee and serenade her or something."

Caroline looks at her patiently, albeit a little amused. "Have you ever seen the water at nighttime? It's beautiful; it'll do most of the work for you. You can lie under the stars… take a swim…"

"Well that doesn't sound totally shitty," Faith muses, thinking about it.

"And maybe afterwards if you guys are still having a good time, you can find somewhere to go dancing. But take her to a different club; mix it up a little," Caroline suggests. Faith smiles a little.

"Thanks, Mum," she says softly, grateful for her help. She would be totally fucking lost if it weren't for her right now. She's probably still gonna find a way to manage to screw this up, but maybe it won't be such a huge screw up this time.

"Here," Caroline says, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out two twenty dollar bills. "Take this; buy her a dozen roses before you pick her up. I think she'll like that."

"But Mum, you need that for your shit," Faith protests. She already took money from her once and it kicked her into withdrawal; she doesn't wanna do that again.

Caroline gives her a sad smile as she takes Faith's hand, placing the money in it and encouraging her to close her fingers around it. "No, I don't," she tells her softly, keep her hand atop of hers. "You were right; I'm a hypocrite. I can't expect for you to not screw up in your life if all you see is me doing it. I'm a shit role-model for you, Fai, and I'm sorry. So…" she takes a breath, looking a little scared as she tells her, "I'm going to try to quit. For good."

Faith stares at her for a moment, almost wondering if she heard her right. "Seriously?" she asks, her voice a broken whisper. This has been her life, every day, for as long as she can remember; her mother on drugs, Faith picking up the pieces when it went bad. She's never had a real childhood, with a Mum that was… fuck, normal. She never even thought of the possibility that it could really happen.

"Seriously," Caroline replies with a small smile. "I know it's going to… well, fucking suck for awhile; but I think it's time I stop wallowing in my own shit. We're away from your father; we're free now. It's time to start again."

Faith's never been much of an emotional person, but that right there made her choke back tears as she threw her arms around her mother's neck, holding her tight. "Fuckin' proud of you, Mum," she whispers, smiling so much that her face hurt.

Maybe things really would start to turn around. And you know what? It's about fucking time.

Faith's standing outside of Buffy's house, feeling nervous as shit. She left the roses in the car, figuring it'd probably be better if she didn't out Buffy to her mom in the process, since that would probably end up being a huge fuckfest that wouldn't help her cause in the slightest. She feels stupid in this dress; even though she knows she looks hot as hell. It's just weird though… being a girl.

Faith swallows her nerves and rings the doorbell, fidgeting a little as she hears people inside. The door is opened by Buffy's mother, who gives her a warm smile. "Faith, it's nice to see you again," she greets. "Come in, Buffy's just upstairs getting ready. I'll tell her you're here." She steps out of the way, ushering Faith inside.

"Thanks, Mrs. S," Faith replies, hoping she doesn't look as awkward as she feels. Mrs. Summers closes the door behind Faith before she makes her way up the stairs.

It only takes a minute before Buffy comes down the stairs, looking like… damn, the sexiest fucking thing Faith's ever seen in her life. It ain't even what she's wearing; more her makeup and her hair. She lightly shadowed around her eyes, giving them a smoky look that made the green in her eyes look amazing. Her hair is around her shoulders, only slightly curled and a little messy in that… just fucked but still classy kind of look. Faith can't help but stare at her. She barely even notices the surprising amount cleavage Buffy is showing, cause she can't get past how fucking pretty her face is.

Buffy seems to be in the same boat though. She literally stops halfway down the stairs once she takes a look at Faith in her soft green dress, hair actually all done up for once (thanks to her mother). Her makeup isn't as heavy as she normally likes it and in all honesty she feels like a goddamn retard looking like this, but at least Buffy seems to like it. "Wow," Buffy says finally. "You look…" she starts, coming down the rest of the stairs as she tries to find the words, "so unlike you."

"Is that a good thing?" Faith asks, suddenly unsure.

"It's not a bad thing," Buffy replies, smiling softly. "I… I like whatever you wear, but it's just… nice, to see you… I don't know, like this. I know you don't do this often." She sounds a little nervous as she speaks and it makes Faith feel better that she ain't the only one.

"You girls have fun!" Joyce calls from atop the stairs. Her voice has this tone that Faith's mother does when she knows more than she's saying, and it makes Faith wonder about something. She waits to mention it until they're out of the house though, so she and Buffy say goodbye to her mom before they make their way towards the car.

"B?" Faith asks as they walk down the pathway. "Does your Mum know you're… gay?"

"No, God no," Buffy says, shaking her head like that thought would probably make her entire existence implode.

"You sure?" Faith asks as she opens the passenger side door for her; another tip from her mother. Buffy looks surprised, but smiles as she gets in the car.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Why?"

"Cause she sounds like she knew we were goin' on a date," Faith responds before she closes Buffy's door, making her way over to the driver's side before getting in. Buffy stares at her, a look of minor panic on her face.

"She… she didn't say anything to you, did she?"

"Nah, just… I dunno, a vibe I got. Maybe it's nothing," Faith replies, shrugging it off as she closes her door. She doesn't want to get Buffy worked up over nothing if she doesn't actually know. "Oh," she says, remembering the flowers. She reaches into the backseat and grabs the dozen roses, handing them to Buffy. "Got these for you. Don't make a big deal outta it or nothin', just… thought ya'd like them," Faith tells her awkwardly. She can feel her face heating up and she's glad Buffy can't see her behind the large bouquet of flowers. Faith Lehane does not blush. What the fuck is wrong with her?

"Are you serious?" Buffy asks breathlessly, taking the flowers from her with a look of utter disbelief on her face. "Faith…" she says, looking up at her. She's smiling. "These are beautiful, thank you."

Faith shrugs and mutters something incoherent. This is so fucking embarrassing. So instead of sitting there looking like more of an idiot, she decides to put the car into drive and speeds off.

They only drive about twenty minutes until they get to the lake. The whole way there Buffy was trying to make her to tell her where they're going, but Faith kept it a secret (another one of her mother's tips). It was weird though; Buffy was obviously happy but kept trying to like, hold it in or something. And Faith gets that she has every reason to still be pissed and this isn't gonna make up for everything, but it kinda sucked to see the confliction of emotions on Buffy's face.

When Faith stops the car, Buffy looks around. "Are we here?" she asks, unsure. She's trying to look out the window to get some sort of clue as to where they are, but all she can see is trees.

"Yup," Faith replies, getting out of the car. Buffy furrows her eyebrows and gets out too, waiting as Faith grabs a bunch of stuff out of the back. "C'mon," Faith says, nodding her head at Buffy as she starts making her way down the path. Buffy raises her eyebrows but says nothing as she follows behind her.

When the trees open up and the lake comes into view, Buffy stops short. "Wow," she breathes, looking at the moon illuminating on the lake's service. She takes a couple steps forward, her eyes searching the area like it's the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. "I've lived in Sunnydale my whole life," she says, looking around, "and I can't believe I've never been here before. I didn't even know this place existed."

"Yeah, well; I got skills," Faith replies, smirking as she makes her way down to the bank.

"You had help," Buffy corrects, her smirk matching Faith's for calling her out. Faith looks back at her and Buffy asks, "Who?"

"My Mum," Faith admits, shrugging as she lays out a blanket, putting the rest of her stuff next to it. Buffy comes over as Faith goes on, "You know me; don't know my head from my ass with this stuff but I…" she feels stupid admitting it so she doesn't look her in the eye when she finishes, "y'know, wanted to actually do something that didn't fuck up your life for once."

"You don't fuck up my life, Faith," Buffy tells her softly as she sits next to Faith on the blanket, looking out at the water. "You just… confuse me."

"And hurt you."

Buffy looks over at the guilty look on Faith's face and gives her a sad smile. "Yeah," she says softly. Her hand covers Faith's, the warmness of her palm making the brunette's nerve endings jump beneath her skin. "Do you think that maybe we could talk… without all the screaming for once?"

Faith shrugs, looking down at Buffy's hand on top of hers. "Guess so; if that's what ya wanna do." Talking isn't exactly one of her strong suits, but this night ain't about what she wants.

Buffy nods, pursing her lips together for a moment as she looks up at the moon. "I'm sorry," she says finally. That makes Faith turn to look at her.

"For what? You're not the one who fucked up, B."

"No," she agrees softly. She shrugs lightly as she goes on, "But I expected much more than you were willing to give me at the time and I guess I just… even though we weren't dating then, I thought of you as mine. And you told me that we should just be friends and I didn't… listen to you. At all. I didn't care what you wanted, I only cared about what I thought would be good for both of us. But just because I think something's right for us, doesn't mean it is; nor does it mean that your opinions and feelings are irrelevant if they aren't the same as mine."

"Still doesn't give me the right to go and be a huge asshole to you," Faith replies.

"No, it doesn't. You definitely could have been a lot more aware of how I felt for you, and how your actions can affect me. You're selfish sometimes," Buffy tells her, turning her head to look at her. Faith doesn't make eye contact out of guilt.

"Yeah." Faith doesn't know what else to say besides that; there's no denying it or explaining it. She is selfish, period. She's never had to give a fuck when it came to women, she never even cared to. She thought of them as disposable.

"I hate what you did with Kennedy," Buffy tells her softly. "I hate even more that you had the nerve to do it at my slumber party. And I really hate that not fifteen minutes earlier, you were making out with me. And I know… I know you're more than sexually active, Faith, but my god; you need to learn to keep it in your fucking pants." Faith says nothing; she doesn't feel like she's got a place to. So Buffy continues, "You have every right to have sex with whoever you want – we aren't in a relationship – but don't ever do it in my house. And I wish I could tell you that's what I was really mad at, but it wasn't. I felt betrayed and that isn't fair to you, since you never agreed to be mine."

"Wanna be yours," Faith mumbles, then makes a face at how utterly ridiculous that sounded. Jeez, someone just shoot in her in the face and spare her the effort. "Ugh, I sound like such a douche," she groans as she flops back against the blanket, staring up at the stars while on her back. Buffy leans over, looking down at her with a slightly amused look on her face.

"Because you have actual feelings for someone?" she asks. She sounds like she's poking fun at her a little.

"Yes. Shit sucks; don't know how people deal with this crap all the time. Fuckin' confusing. Probably doesn't help that I'm the world's biggest dumbass either."

"You're not a dumbass."

Faith gives her a disbelieving look.

"Okay, fine, you're kind of a dumbass," Buffy revises, smirking a little as she looks down at her. Faith doesn't say anything and Buffy carefully brushes a piece of hair away from her eyes, giving her a sad smile. "I want to get caught up in all of this," she admits quietly, "but it's hard. I know you're trying, that much is obvious and you have no idea how happy that makes me. But…" she purses her lips a little before sighing. "I'm just having a hard time pushing all the bad stuff to the back of my mind, you know? I think it's going to take some time for me to trust that you won't hurt me again."

"I get it," Faith says, looking up at her. She shrugs lightly, "Didn't really expect everything to be fixed in a night."

"I don't want to ruin this though," Buffy tells her. "It's obvious you put a lot of effort into this, so maybe we should stop talking about this stuff and being all depressing."

Truth. As good as it is that they're actually talking without screaming at each other for once, they do need to have some fun.

Faith cocks an eyebrow. "Wanna swim?" she asks, a hint of a smirk adorning her features.

"I didn't bring a bathing suit."

"So? Ya got a bra and panties on right?" Faith asks, sitting up before she gets to her feet. "Same diff, really. C'mon," she encourages as she peels off her dress. Buffy's eyes watch her intently, a little blush forming on her cheeks as she bears witness to Faith's tiny, yet lacy underwear duo. Faith smirks as she sees Buffy look at her, her pupils dilated slightly. "Ya gonna just sit there and ogle the goodies all night or ya gonna come for a swim?"

"I… uh," Buffy stumbles, looking a little flustered as she looks away from Faith's body. "Yeah, sorry. I wasn't…"

"Checkin' me out? Kinda were," Faith replies, smirking. Hey, when she calls it; she calls it.

Buffy mumbles what sounds like an embarrassed 'shut up' as she lifts her shirt over her head, kicking off her heels. Faith does a tiny happy dance in her head as she notices that both Buffy's bra and underwear are white. Thankfully, Buffy hasn't caught up to what that's gonna mean when they're wet though, because she's folding her clothes nicely on the edge of the blanket.

When she's done, Faith doesn't give her a chance to react before she calls out, "Race ya!" as she starts running down the bank.

"Hey!" Buffy protests, taking off after her. "That's not fair!"

Faith just laughs in response before she runs into the water, diving under once she gets deep enough. When she comes up, she's automatically pulled back under as Buffy grabs her legs, successfully tripping her. Buffy's laughing when she comes up, sputtering. Damn, swallowing lake water is not kosher.

"That's what you get for cheating," Buffy says, a teasing smirk on her face before she bites her bottom lip, giggling a little as she pulls a leaf out of Faith's hair.

"S'Cool; already got my award for winnin' anyway," Faith leers, looking pointedly at Buffy's chest. Buffy looks down and emits a squeal of surprise at how very visible her nipples are through her bra and she crosses her arms over her chest, embarrassed. Faith laughs. "Ain't like I haven't seen 'em before, B."

"That's different," Buffy protests, her face heating up.

"How?"

"I don't know, it just is! You so did this on purpose, didn't you?" Buffy accuses, which makes Faith laugh.

"Yeah, B; I did some psychic voodoo to make you wear white underwear today, just cause I knew we were comin' here and wanted to get all Peepin' Tom on ya."

Buffy narrows her eyes at Faith's sarcasm. "Ha, ha." She moves her arms away from her chest, however sinks further down in the water, enough so Faith can no longer see her nipples. She looks far too amused by Faith's disappointed look.

"Hey! That ain't fair; I won the right to perv on you, B. Not my fault you were too slow," Faith replies, smirking at Buffy's look of mock annoyance.

"You cheated! And besides, I don't find it very fair that you can 'perv on me' when I'm not allowed the same privilege." She folds her arms across her chest and gives Faith a 'ha' look, like she just won the world's greatest argument. But c'mon, does she really think she's too shy to even the playing field? Please.

"If that's what ya want," Faith replies, reaching behind her and unhooking her bra. Buffy's eyes nearly bug out of her head once Faith slides the piece of material from her body, throwing it so it lands on shore.

"Oh," Buffy says, her voice a little out there as she stares at Faith's chest. "Uh, okay. Hi, Faith's boobs. I wasn't really expecting… that, but… I'm not entirely against it."

Faith snorts. 'Not entirely against it'? She looks wicked into it, if you ask her. The way Buffy's staring at her tits is like she's trying to permanently imprint the memory into her mind. But hey, not like Faith could blame her; she does have a fantastic rack.

As Faith moves closer to Buffy, she can hear the older girl's breath shallow just a little. "You remember I said we couldn't have sex, right?" she asks, eyes still not leaving Faith's breasts. Faith's wonders if she's just trying to convince herself.

"Dunno what health class you went to, B; but last I checked swimming topless ain't sex," Faith replies, laughing a little as Buffy finally looks up at her with an indignant expression on her face.

"I know," she says, putting her hands on her hips. "You just… ah," she stumbles as she finds Faith right up in her personal space, "are very close to me with your boobs."

"Well they are attached to me," Faith replies, smirking.

"So I've noticed," Buffy replies breathlessly as she finds herself getting backed up a little ways until she's pressed against a rock. Faith can hear Buffy's heart beating heavily in her chest and she watches her take a nervous breath before her hand connects with her skin; sliding over the tight muscles in Faith's stomach, then around to feel the curve of her waist. Faith wants to fucking jump her right there, but controls herself. Instead she takes one step closer, pressing her body flush against hers. Buffy seems to forget to take her next breath.

"Wanna kiss you, B," Faith tells her, voice low and husky as her eyes search hers for any sign of resistance. She's never really asked for permission before, but she figures it'll win her more points if she does. Buffy looks nervous, but she doesn't look against the idea of a make out session either.

"Okay…" she breathes, her fingers tightening on Faith's waist.

The brunette doesn't hesitate for a second and she collides her lips to Buffy's, prompting the girl beneath her to elicit a quiet whimper. For all of her nervousness, Buffy wastes no time sliding her hand up and cupping one of Faith's breasts, her other arm wrapping around her neck as her fingers slide through her wet hair. She parts her lips and Faith slides her tongue in her mouth, milking another whimper from the blonde as her fingers toy with the hem of Buffy's underwear.

Their teeth clash together the more into it they get; kissing each other with enough bruising passion that Faith's panties grow damp for a completely different reason other than the lake they're standing in. Faith groans against Buffy's lips as she gets bold, rolling one of her nipples between her fingertips. It takes every inch of will power Faith has to not just shove her hand down Buffy's underwear; so instead she bites gently at her bottom lip as her own hands take the initiative to push Buffy's bra up, enveloping her tiny breasts in her hands. Buffy's breathing shallows significantly from Faith's touch and she pushes her pelvis into her, a moan leaving her lips as her grip tightens in Faith's hair.

"Faith," she breathes against her lips, voice heavy with desire, "Can I…?"

"You can do whatever ya want," Faith tells her breathlessly, not caring in the slightest what Buffy wants to do; she just knows she wants her to do it. Hell, she could spank her with a tree branch and demand she call her "mistress" for all she gives a fuck right now. She's down for anything she can get.

Buffy gives Faith another bruising kiss before she dips her head down, hesitating for only a moment before she wraps her lips around one of her nipples. Faith groans and tangles her fingers in Buffy's hair, silently encouraging her. She wishes she had something, anything that could provide friction against her throbbing clit. She has half a mind to just stick her hand down there and fuck herself while she's doing the whole second base thing with Buffy, but that might freak her out a little. It sucks, but Faith is attempting to remind herself that for all intents and purposes, Buffy's still kind of a virgin; at least when it comes to this shit. If she starts screwing herself in front of her on the first date it might be a little too much for her to handle.

God, she is gonna fuck herself so hard when she gets home tonight though.

Faith's always been more of a giver than a receiver, so it doesn't take long before she's grabbing Buffy's wrists, pushing her back and pinning her against the rock face. Buffy moans as Faith's lips assault her neck, their breasts pushed together. Faith presses her thigh against Buffy's core, feeling the heat even through the cool water. Buffy gasps as Faith's teeth sink into her neck; not hard, but hard enough to make a point. "Faith," she breathes, eyes closed and looking completely sexy as the submissive.

Faith exhales a hot breath against her ear that makes Buffy shiver. As her hands continue to tease Buffy's hardened nipples, she breathes heavily into her ear, "You're the sexiest fuckin' thing I've ever seen, B."

Buffy bites her bottom lip at that before turning her head, crashing their lips together in another passionate kiss. Her tongue fights for the dominance that she already knows Faith has, and with one more firm push of Faith's thigh against her hot core she gasps, "Fuck!" It's pretty much the hottest word Faith's ever heard come out of her mouth, but then comes the next breathy sigh of, "Oh, Faith…" and suddenly that wins the award.

God, it makes Faith want to fuck her so hard that she can't walk straight in the morning. It makes her want to stick her tongue so far up her cunt that she cums a river in her mouth. It makes her want to… damnit.

Suddenly Faith's off of Buffy, breathless and looking like she's on the verge of exploding. "We gotta stop, B," she tells her, hating every single word that comes out of her mouth. Buffy looks confused as she stares at Faith, probably wondering what the hell has gotten into her.

"What? Why?" She doesn't look entirely happy with that plan. Hell, neither is Faith.

"Cause ya said you didn't wanna fuck me tonight and I swear to God I'm two seconds away from not caring what you want," Faith tells her honestly, looking and feeling like a horny disaster on speed. Buffy stares at her for a moment, mostly in disbelief.

"You… uh, that's… surprisingly respectful of you," Buffy says, like she can't believe that just happened. Neither can Faith. Maybe becoming a Slayer broke her brain.

"Yeah, well," Faith replies, but doesn't elaborate more than that as she turns to get out of the water. She needs to calm herself down.

Buffy seems to sense she needs space, so she stays in the water for a little while until Faith stops her pacing and erratic movements and settles back down on the blanket, lying on her back and looking up at the stars. Buffy gets out of the water then, coming over to her. "Can I lay with you, or do you still need space?" she asks, looking down at her.

Faith takes a breath, but shrugs. "S'Cool if ya wanna; just watch your hands."

Buffy smirks, but settles down next to her, laying her head on Faith's shoulder. Faith's never really cuddled, but it didn't entirely suck. She was still horny as fuck so it was a little uncomfortable, but not unmanageable. She wraps her arm around Buffy before sliding her fingers through her hair, praying to whoever's listening that Buffy will adhere to the three date rule at least. She's seen that shit on TV so it better fucking work; she doesn't know how much more teasing she can take.

"Faith?" Buffy asks quietly, jolting Faith from her perverted prayers.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Buffy says, propping herself up on her forearm to look down at the girl beneath her. She gives her a small smile. "You've been really amazing tonight, and I know most of it hasn't been easy for you since you've never done something like this before. But I want you to know that I… I really appreciate it." She smirks as she admits a little begrudgingly, "And you may have earned a lot of points back because of this night."

Faith can't help but smile at that; fucking score one for the slutty Slayer.

"It's not perfect," Buffy tells her pointedly, needing her to know everything isn't all rainbows and sunshine yet, "Us, I mean; but if you keep being this amazing then I'm sure I'll be able to completely forgive you in time, maybe even sooner than I thought." She gives her a small smile, her hand caressing Faith's cheek before she leans down, placing a sweet, yet brief kiss on her lips.

And for once in Faith's life, she knows she finally did something right.

Chapter Forty - Girlfriend?

"I need to talk to you."

The way Faith grabs Willow is practically bordering on manhandling in her nervous desperation; pulling her away from her locker and making the redhead emit a tiny squeak from surprise as she drags her into an empty classroom. But she doesn't want to be overheard by anyone, since her 'bad girl' image has already been shattered in the span of one night, it seemed. No need to make it any worse.

"Sorry," Faith apologizes as she lets her go, realizing how hard she was pulling her from the look of discomfort on Willow's face. "I just… uh, did B say anything about me?" She knew out of anyone, Buffy would say something to her; they were the closest.

Whatever Willow was expecting, it didn't seem to be that. Her face turns from one of disbelief to one of amusement relatively quickly and Faith wants to bang her head against a wall. Christ, Lehane; way to sound wicked needy. Already this isn't going well and it's making her feel like an idiot for even indulging in this juvenile, high school crush-like behavior. This isn't who she is; she's not supposed to care. And hell, if she does care, she damn well isn't supposed to act like she does. She's supposed to be the cool and collected one, bordering on complete nonchalance about the whole matter. Except she isn't. She's kind of far from that, actually.

God, she's actually turning into a fucking girl. Someone shoot her.

"Nevermind," Faith revises, feeling more stupid after each passing moment. "Forget I asked, I plead temporary insanity. It's the coffee I had this morning; shit makes me act weird." She tries to pass it off as nothing, though knows Willow can see through her bullshit. She attempts to make it out the door, maybe to save her own sanity as well as her image, but only gets a couple steps because the words that come out of Willow's mouth make her stop short.

"I talked to her." Faith turns around without much of a second thought, though instantly regrets doing it because now she's only proving that she is needy. God, she's turning into a pathetic pile of mush; this is ridiculous. "L-Last night, after your date; she called," Willow finishes, looking at Faith with an expression Faith hadn't seen in a while: that I-wanna-study-you-for-my-psychology-class expression. Fuck. That means she really is acting outside of the norm if Willow's getting interested in her behavior.

Faith tries to do the casual thing and leans against the wall, folding her arms across her chest to appear less anxious than she really is about maybe being allowed a glimpse into the inner workings of Buffy's mind. "And?" she asks, trying to keep her voice neutral.

"And she loved the date," Willow told her, watching her closely to gauge her reaction. "B-But she's really confused." While the first part made Faith irrationally happy – like the kind that makes you wanna dance and make a fucking fool out of yourself in the process – the second part made her frown a little.

"Why is she confused?" Faith asks. She had thought she made her intentions pretty damn clear. Hell, subtle has never been part of Faith's vocabulary when it came to anything; which, unfortunately, is making itself clear at this very moment. No matter how bad she wants to be all 'whatever' about the whole thing, she obviously can't be.

Willow gives her a look like she should already know the answer, yet spells it out for her anyway. "Because you went from 'I don't do relationships' girl to 'the best date she's ever had' in the span of a week," Willow tells her. "T-That's what she said."

"Maybe I'm an extremist."

Understatement.

"Maybe," Willow agrees, still peering at Faith like she wants to peel away her layers. "Or maybe you're just scared."

"Of what?" Faith asks, never one to be fond of being called the S word. Not that she's stupid enough to think she's never been scared of anything, since that'd be a damn fucking lie, but it's not like she needs everyone to know that she has weaknesses either.

"Of losing her again," Willow tells her. "Y-You had to bring her back to life, Faith. That's kind of a scary thing. I think when she died you realized how much you cared for her and are afraid that if you don't do something about that now, you might miss your chance. I think… w-well I think you finally realized how short a Slayer's life expectancy is." Willow says the last part in a low voice, a look of pain crossing her face at the thought of two of her friends dying young.

Faith stares at her. Sometimes she hates how incredibly perceptive Willow is, but she's right regardless. She's fucking terrified that not only Buffy, but she's gonna end up dying without… fuck, having all those stupid life experiences you're supposed to have when you're young. As far as her life goes, most of it has been pretty shit. Faith kind of wants some good shit before she goes out in a blaze of bad ass Slayer glory. Ain't too much to ask, right?

"Well why doesn't she get that?" Faith asks finally, uncrossing her arms to shove her hands in her pockets, a sure sign that she's becoming a little self-conscience.

"Because no one's explained it to her," Willow tells her pointedly. Faith frowns; she doesn't wanna be the one to bring up the ever depressing death scene. In fact, Faith's pretty sure she wants to keep that night as far away from her mind as possible.

Faith sighs. "Don't wanna talk about that night. Shit's fuckin' depressing, Red." She shrugs, "Besides, I figure if I keep doin' what I'm doin'; the whole not screwing up thing, then there'll be wedding bells in no time." Off of Willow's wide eyed, oh-my-god-is-Faith-under-some-kind-of-spell look, the brunette explains, "That was a joke. Not gonna marry her, dude. I'm sixteen." No one ever gets her sense of humor anymore.

"Oh," Willow says, looking a little foolish. "I-I knew that. Yeah."

"Look, I just meant I'm doing pretty alright on my own right now, without havin' to bring up that whole fuckfest. Kinda want to keep it that way. And if B's confused then whatever, but eventually she'll get that I actually wanna try to do this thing with her for real."

Willow looks at her; another studying look that makes Faith feel a little uncomfortable. "You really want to be with her?" she asks, like part of her still doesn't believe it.

Faith shrugs. "Yeah, guess so."

"'Guess so' isn't really good enough, Faith. She really likes you, a-and part of her is scared that you're going to hurt her again. If you're not sure, then don't lead her on."

"I'm not leadin' her on, Red. I really… fuck, I dunno, I actually really give a shit, okay?" Faith admits, feeling uncomfortable with this whole 'bare her soul' moment. "Wouldn't have asked her out if I didn't. And I know it's fucked cause I've always been the bitch who doesn't care; but I actually do, for once. Never really had a chick of my own, y'know? Not for more than a night anyway, and even though I'm pretty damn convinced I'm gonna somehow screw this up, I still wanna try. I like her."

"Please don't screw it up," Willow requests. "Buffy's the best thing that's ever happened to you." Off of Faith's skeptical look she explains, "A life without love is really unsatisfying, Faith; a-and she's the one who's opened you up to it."

"Okay, whoa, hold up," Faith exclaims, holding up her hand to stop Willow before she inadvertently causes her a migraine. "I ain't in love with her. This just a… I dunno, a thing, okay? A feelings thing, but definitely not a love thing."

Love is way too strong a word and in all honesty kinda makes Faith feel nauseous. She's already freaked about what's going on between her and Buffy, but she's dealing. If love came into the equation though? Fuck that, Faith doesn't think she'd be able to deal with something like that. That's like… fucking real. Like 'in your face, kick your ass' kind of real. She's too young for that kind of shit.

Willow gives her a patient look. "I didn't say you loved her, only that now you're more open to the idea. Before you wouldn't even consider caring for someone, let alone be with them in… w-well, a semi-serious kind of way."

Okay, well that's the truth at least; Buffy was a lot of firsts for her. Faith goes to respond, but it's drowned out by the sound of the bell. Fuck, class. Faith can't wait until the end of the school year but that, unfortunately, was still a long time off.

Hours later, Faith found herself at Giles' sparring with Buffy in his newly decorated training room. They have been going at it for at least twenty minutes now and Faith has barely worked up a sweat, when a week ago she would be dripping by now. She's gotta admit; being a Slayer doesn't suck. She knows Buffy isn't completely into the sparring though and Faith sighs in annoyance. How the hell is she supposed to get better if Buffy keeps hitting her like a damn girl?

"B, quit pulling your punches!" Faith complains once Giles signals for them to take a break. She holds out her arms like 'what the fuck' and Buffy shoots her an annoyed look of her own.

"Look, it's not my fault I've spent months overly aware that I have to hit you softer so I don't break your face and leave you deformed," Buffy retorts. "It's a habit. Besides, it's not like you're hitting me at full strength either!"

"Well I ain't gonna start beatin' the crap out of you if ya ain't gonna fight back," Faith rationalizes. "Then you'd be pissed and I'd be a dick, and I've been trying out a different lifestyle lately." She shoots her a sarcastic look and Buffy rolls her eyes. All this hot and sweaty stuff has made them both a little on edge. Faith wants to say fuck training and take her right here on the floor and it looks like Buffy's been having the same urges because she keeps fidgeting and trying to not look at Faith's breasts.

"Girls, please," Giles interrupts, needing them to pay attention for once. "Buffy, you need to not be afraid of hurting Faith anymore; she's a Slayer, just like yourself. Faith, if you had hit Buffy with your full strength without worrying that she may get angry with you, she would have hit you back at full strength in retaliation and we wouldn't even be having this discussion right now." He looks at them both pointedly. "This is training, girls; not a tea party—"

"Crap, I think I broke a nail!" Buffy interrupts, looking at said nail like the world's about to end. Faith smirks and Giles sighs heavily. Buffy holds her hand up in front of her face, inspecting the damage and frowning. "Damnit, now my entire left hand is going to be uneven."

"And that would be tragic," Faith says, trying to not let her sarcasm or amusement slip out that much between her words. She fails miserably and Buffy glares at her.

"This is important, thank you."

"It's not important," Giles tells her, which earns a scoff from the blonde. He ignores it and gets back to business, "Buffy, you keep dropping your right shoulder, which is leaving you wide open for an attack. Faith, you haven't been taking that opportunity; you need to be more perceptive of your opponent's weaknesses." He looks at the two of them before he instructs, "Again."

Buffy and Faith roll their eyes simultaneously before they step back, getting into a defensive stance as they square off for the second time. They stare at each other intently as they slowly move in a circle, trying to find an opening for attack. Or, well, at least it started that way. Soon Faith found herself watching a bead of sweat disappear into her cleavage, and Buffy seemed too distracted by how tight Faith's shorts were. Neither of them realize how long they've been circling each other until Giles clears his throat.

"Girls, you can't be scared of hurting one another if you ever expect to be properly trained."

"They look more like they're scared to touch each other because they'd end up ripping their clothes off," Xander interrupts in amusement, watching from the doorway. That makes Buffy turn to look at him indignantly.

"Xander!" she exclaims, not believing that he just said that out loud and in front of Giles.

But that gives Faith an opening and hey, that's what Giles told her to look for, right? Her punch connects with Buffy's jaw, who looks both surprised and angry as she stumbles back a few steps. Faith smirks, but it's short lived.

"OW! Faith, that's not fair!" she exclaims before she tackles her like a frigging linebacker juiced up on steroids. Faith lets out an undignified squawk as they both topple over on to the mats. What follows after that Faith would like to pretend is some bad ass fighting, except in reality they end up rolling around like a bunch of uncoordinated, amateur wrestlers on the ground.

Giles puts a hand over his face, sighing in exasperation. "I'm going to go pour myself a cup of tea," he informs them, giving up for the moment. The two Slayers are barely listening though and Giles turns, walking from the room to leave them to their immaturity.

"That's my fuckin' hair!"

"Serves you right!" Buffy exclaims, tugging more firmly on Faith's mane as she attempts to at least end up on top of this little escapade. But Faith grabs her wrist, pressing down on a certain area that makes Buffy cry out in surprise as her fingers automatically loosen their grip on Faith's hair. The brunette has her pinned in seconds flat, grinning in victory as she looks down at her.

"Don't ever touch my hair, B."

"Where did you learn that?" Buffy asks, out of breath as she stares up at her, wondering how she managed to make her loosen her grip like that. Faith just smirks, shrugging lightly.

"TV," she answers. "Well, and I did some trial and error on Xander; cause y'know, TV can get their shit wrong sometimes."

"I am not your pressure points guinea pig!" Xander reminds her in a tone that's half teasing, half lecturing before he turns from the doorway, heading back into Giles' living room. Faith chuckles.

It only takes a moment before she's aware that they're the only ones left in the training room. She smirks, looking down at Buffy who's still pinned to the floor, completely at her mercy. God, the things she wishes she could do to her right now. And believe her; she has some damn fucking creative scenarios running through her mind at the moment, some of which actively include a few pieces of Giles' training equipment. She could do shit to Buffy that would make her toes curl and her hairs stand on end but no they have to be all… virginal and annoying and fuck, Buffy looks good enough to eat right now.

Buffy seems to recognize that look in Faith's eyes and her breath shallows a little. She looks a little nervous as she asks, "Are you going to let me up?"

"No," Faith tells her simply, biting her lower lip for a moment before she informs her, "Submissive looks good on you, B; we should do this more often." She rolls her hips into Buffy's, making her emit a quiet groan as her eyes flutter shut for just a second.

It seems to take Buffy a moment to collect herself before she attempts rationalization, "Faith, we don't have time for bondage fun right now. We're supposed to be training—"

"This ain't bondage, Twinkie; but I'm not opposed to tying you up later," Faith responds in a husky voice that makes Buffy gulp and her cheeks turn a rosy hue. She looks a mess; somewhere between turned on beyond all sane thought and a nervous wreck. Faith doesn't get why, cause didn't they just make out topless last night? C'mon now. Besides, she's just flirting… right now anyway.

Faith slides her body against Buffy's, pressing their breasts together as she gets her face unbelievably closer to hers. "Go out with me again," she requests in a soft voice, her lips just barely tickling Buffy's with how close they were.

"Um, I… uhh, okay…" Buffy stumbles, apparently not in the right frame of mind for coherent thoughts.

"Tonight," Faith requests. That makes Buffy pay attention, at least for a second. She stops staring at Faith's lips and instead chooses to look her in the eyes.

"But we just went out last night."

"Yeah, well; tryin' to get to that third date as quick as I can," Faith replies, smirking as she watches Buffy trying to process that and understand what that means.

"What?" she asks, seemingly confused. Then the meaning of the statement seems to hit her all at once and her eyes go wide. "Oh. Oh. You… oh," she stutters, looking a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Uhh…"

"Problem?" Faith asks, hoping to god there isn't a problem with that plan of action, but by the look on Buffy's face there obviously is. Christ, is she ever gonna get laid? In a month her muscles in her right arm are gonna start to look bulgy from all the self-servicing and it'll be awkward.

"It's not that I don't… want to have sex with you," Buffy tells her, looking a little embarrassed to be talking about this. "But we've been dating for two days, Faith. Don't you think that's a little fast?"

"No."

Two days is one more day than it usually takes for her, thank you.

"Well it is for me," Buffy tells her, looking at her a little regrettably. "Besides, I haven't… gotten over my trust issues with you yet, and this is kind of like 'virginity: the sequel' for me, you know? I haven't ever…" she trails off, her blush deepening a little. "I just… I want to be sure when we finally… you know."

Faith sighs and gets off of her, rolling over to lie flat on her back on the mat, looking up at the ceiling. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" she asks dramatically. Buffy looks a little amused by that and rolls over, propping herself up on one elbow as she looks down at her.

"No, I'm not," she replies, an amused smile on her face. "Besides, don't you think like… setting a specific time to do it would, I don't know, cause performance anxiety?"

"Not a guy, B; ain't like I gotta worry about gettin' it up or anything."

"Still," Buffy says, looking down at her, "I think it would be better if we just… leave it up to the moment. Spontaneity is much sexier than a set schedule, right?" She bites her bottom lip, hoping Faith will understand her side of things.

"Sex is sex, Buffy," Faith tells her. "Don't matter if ya plan it or anything else; still gonna end in some wicked orgasms either way."

"Well planning it would make me nervous," Buffy tells her honestly. She purses her lips for a moment before she leans down, giving Faith a soft kiss on the cheek. "I promise it'll happen, you just need to have some patience."

Great. Patience. Because Faith has always had an abundance of that. Except… no wait, she hasn't. Christ. She's gonna die from chronic masturbating syndrome, watch.

It's a real thing; don't look at her like that. She heard from this guy who knew a girl who had a cousin who used to have this friend that died from jackin' off too much. It's just not healthy, period.

"Yeah, sure; patience is my middle name," Faith responds, completely unenthused by the prospect of waiting. Buffy giggles; but then again, she's always found immense amusement in Faith's sexual frustration it seems.

"I'd still like to go out with you tonight, if you want," Buffy says, peering down at her and smirking a little at Faith's grumpy face. "After patrol, maybe we could hit the Bronze? I know you like to dance."

Faith makes an undistinguishable noise as a response.

"Aww, come on; you can't be grumpy with me forever," Buffy prods, poking Faith's side in this annoyingly repetitive way. Faith grabs her hand to still it and Buffy smirks. "Come on, not being able to have sex isn't the end of the world."

"Yes it is," Faith tells her flatly. That one statement makes Buffy's eyes soften in sadness.

"Is that really all this is then?" she asks, voice quiet and full of dread as she realizes that Faith might really only want what's under her skirt. The tone in her voice makes Faith sit up immediately; she sounds so incredibly crushed.

"No," she tells her, now feeling like a jackass. "No, B, that's not…" Faith sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "Sorry, I just… I don't know, I'm used to a lot of sex I guess. That doesn't mean that's all I want from you, Buffy. I actually, y'know… like you and shit." She places her hand over the one Buffy has on the mat and she leans in, kissing her firmly on the lips before she pulls back, looking into her eyes as she tells her, "I swear."

Buffy purses her lips, but still looks a little wary. She relents with a quiet, "Okay," though, which doesn't actually sound very much like an 'okay' to Faith.

"B," Faith says seriously before she leans in, kissing her again. "I," another kiss, "fucking," another kiss, this time earning a small giggle from Buffy, "like," one last kiss, "you." She pulls back and looks at her before she asks, "Okay? This ain't some kind of elaborate plot to get in your panties. You should know by now I ain't skilled enough in manipulation to pull that kind of crap off. Just kinda impatient about it I guess cause, y'know, I do like sex and everyone always says ya get it nonstop when you got a girlfriend. But that don't mean that's all I like you for. I mean, come on; I like you now and I still ain't seen what you're workin' with, let alone have been able to do anything with it." She smirks, prompting a small smile from Buffy.

"Girlfriend?" Buffy asks, wondering if she heard Faith right. She's got this hopeful look on her face that makes Faith's heart beat increase.

The brunette shrugs, trying to play it off. "Well, I figured you'd rather be called that then 'my bitch', but hey; if you like that better…" She's teasing her and for once it's actually well received.

"Shut up," Buffy replies, laughing a little as she pushes her back lightly with one hand. "Don't you dare." Faith laughs a little and Buffy looks at her, trying to contain the smile on her face but failing miserably. "You really want to do this?" she asks. "Be… exclusive? I mean, isn't this a little… soon for you?"

She had a point.

And jeez, exclusive; big fucking word. Smaller than 'monogamous,' but still big in theory. Same thing, really. Fuck. Can she really do this? Does she want to do this?

Faith remembers what Willow said about her being scared she was going to lose Buffy again. And she was… so fucking scared about that. So yeah, she's gotta try; cause with the life they lead, there may not be a second chance. It freaks her out, this whole… commitment, but isn't everything that's good a little scary at first?

She swears she's heard that somewhere. Probably in a freaking commercial or something ridiculous, but still; it had a point. At least she hopes.

"Every time I fuck around on ya I get in trouble, whether we're exclusive or not. Might as well have the label," Faith replies finally, shrugging a little self-consciously. "So maybe this time I'll remember not to be a douche, cause I got a girl waitin' for me."

Buffy smiles lightly before she leans in, pressing her lips to Faith's in a soft kiss. When they break she tells her in a whisper, "I'd like to be your girl, if you want me."

"I want ya, B," Faith replies, meaning every word on many different levels. Buffy smiles against her lips before they're kissing again, Faith gently encouraging Buffy to lie on her back while she performs her first duty of being her girlfriend: making out with her at every possible moment.

It isn't sex by any means, but you know what? It's a damn fucking good start and Faith can't find it in her to complain.

Chapter Forty-One - H & H

It's fucking ridiculous how much slaying makes Faith hungry and horny.

At first she figured it was just a fluke; like she hadn't eaten dinner yet and she was watching Buffy kick ass, so who wouldn't want to scarf down a cheeseburger and then fuck their girl into the waking hours of the morning? However as the weeks wore on, Giles began to insist that they work separately; cover more ground. Sunnydale did have twelve cemeteries, after all. Faith was still being chaperoned far more than Buffy was, since she was the new bitch on the Slayer block, but tonight was the first night he let her go out alone.

And holy fuck did she kick some ass. She even got to bag some nasty demon fucker that was like seven feet tall and smelled strangely of bacon grease. She was sore, she was tired, but at the end of the day she had a huge ass smile on her face as she walked to her motel room, grabbing a half a dozen burgers from the Doublemeat Palace on the way.

As Faith makes her way down the cement sidewalk, she happily munches on her burgers. In all honesty, her appetite has been insane lately. It's like the more food she shovels into her mouth, the faster her body digests it and she's hungry again. It's strange though; she's never seen Buffy eat that much... ever. Like, she's seen her munch on crackers and shit or eat an apple, but not much else.

Faith thought it might have been just her, but then she began to notice how Buffy would make sure no one was actually around when she ate anything besides a snack. She's probably just embarrassed about it or something, but fuck; what's there to be embarrassed about? Most people would kill to be able to eat whatever the hell they wanted and still look this good.

This H&H thing every night though is kinda killing her. It's been three weeks since she and Buffy first started dating and the closest they had got to fucking was Faith brushing her fingertips over Buffy's underwear-clad clit before the girl nearly had a heart attack. To be fair, they were in the Bronze in front of a ton of people at the time, but still. Patience is one thing, but this is torture.

Faith often wondered how Buffy could stand it, cause she couldn't be the only one feeling this shit, right? This didn't start happening until she became a Slayer. But either Buffy didn't feel it or she had learned to be incredibly poised about the whole thing. It was frustrating; Faith wanted to be fucking like rabbits in heat right about now, but the only action she's been getting lately was with her right hand.

Things were still a little off between them though. While Buffy was starting to become closer to her, there was still some obvious distance between them, especially when Kennedy was around. Buffy was still royally pissed at her, which always tended to cause some sniping while they were all training. However, Kennedy did apologize to Faith about a week ago, admitting that she was a little jealous and that she was sorry she had been 'such a bitch lately'; her words. So they went out to the Bronze, just the two of them one night, and Faith helped her hook up with some hot bitch so she could do the whole rebound thing, or whatever it was. Kennedy was cool, at least when they weren't yelling at each other, so Faith was happy that they found some sort of middle ground.

Not that she's told Buffy that though. Faith isn't sure how Buffy would feel about her going out for a night with Kennedy, even if they did go as just friends. Better safe than sorry, so Faith never brought it up to her.

Outside of that whole drama though, things had been progressing pretty damn good. Faith had taken her on a couple dates already and while none of them were ever 'perfect', she came pretty damn close, if you ask her. Well, as close as she could get anyway, which was somewhere north of 'mediocre.' Regardless, Faith found it didn't suck so much to be tied down. Buffy was a cool chick, so it could be worse, she figures.

School was weird though. Faith's never been one to show emotion or mushiness (translation: weakness) in public, so she kinda distances herself from Buffy while she's there to save her rep. They got into it over that a couple days ago, but c'mon… baby steps, right? Faith already feels like she's flying headfirst into a brick wall with how fast they've gone with this whole girlfriend thing, the least Buffy could do was allow her some time to get used to being that way in front of everyone who's supposed to be scared of her.

Buffy agreed, though reluctantly. She still doesn't seem entirely thrilled by it.

As Faith walks into her hotel room, she throws her battle axe on the floor (a gift from Giles – pretty much the coolest fucking thing ever) and flops down on her bed as she begins to take off her shoes. Her body's humming with the affects from her earlier slays and now that her hunger's been taking care of, she knows it's time to take care of that other H.

Before she does that however, she finds herself crossing the room barefoot, making her way over to her mother's door. She needs to check on her. Though Caroline has been doing relatively well with trying to come off of blow, she frequently has night sweats and high fevers. It's diminished slightly this week though and when Faith peeks her head into the room, she finds her mother fast asleep in her bed, looking relatively healthy. Breathing a sigh of relief, Faith slips back into her room. It's been a bit touch and go lately, but they've been getting through it.

Honestly, seeing her Mum really fucking try for once made Faith really proud. She knows it's hard, it's hard as hell, but she's doing it. Like honest to God fucking doing it.

Faith would like to be able to say the same thing, that she's quit alcohol and hasn't done it since her mother banned her, but that'd be a lie. She didn't drink as often, but she still does it when she can. But fuck it; she's a teenager. She's got a shit ton of years down the road before it actually becomes a full blown problem.

Faith begins to strip off her clothing, chewing on the inside of her cheek for a moment as she stares at the phone on the bedside table. She wants to call Buffy, but it's late; like wicked fucking late. If she wakes up Buffy's mom, she's gonna be pissed. But she hasn't seen her all day and she's horny as fuck and she just wants to… whatever, hear her voice or something? She doesn't mean that as girly as it sounds.

Once Faith's naked, she climbs into bed and grabs the phone off of the receiver, pausing for a moment before her fingers hit the buttons. God, she hopes Buffy's actually home right now; she was out Slaying over at Oak Hill earlier. That place has a nasty habit of being filled with vamps, but knowing Buffy she probably staked their asses with time to spare. Maybe her pussy is overriding her good sense, but Faith finds herself dialing Buffy's number without any more hesitation.

It only rings once. "Hello?" Buffy answers in a whisper, sounding both annoyed and confused at someone calling at this time of night.

"Hey," Faith replies as she settles back against her pillows, running her hand lightly over her stomach. She's grinning ear to ear; she totally needed this. The way she figures it, she'll talk to Buffy for a bit and then when they hang up she can fuck herself, having a better sense of how Buffy will sound when they finally get down to doing the dirty.

Easier to imagine it when she's just been speaking to her, Faith found.

"Faith, it's three thirty in the morning," Buffy responds, sounding a little miffed.

Faith hesitates for only a second as she tries to figure out what could get Buffy to stay on the phone. "I know. Just… wanted to hear your voice," Faith replies. She heard that line in a movie once and the chick swooned. Buffy seems to be no different.

"Really?" Buffy asks. Faith can hear the smile in her voice. Score.

"What are you wearin'?" Faith asks, then immediately slaps herself on the forehead as she realizes what just came out of her mouth. "I mean, what are you doin'?" she corrects herself quickly. While having phone sex with Buffy would be great, Faith's pretty sure Buffy isn't up to that point in their relationship yet. She's barely even acknowledged that she masturbates.

Faith can hear Buffy snort lightly in amusement, but she answers, "I'm sitting on my bed, eating a yogurt." She pauses for a moment before she tells her, sounding far too amused by this than should be legal, "And I'm wearing my robe, if you must know."

Uggfff.

Faith tries like hell not to voice that actual sound out loud and there's a noticeable pause as her brain mentally undresses Buffy from that robe. It's surprising though; Buffy indulging in her curiosity. Faith never thought she would. So, because she's Faith, she tries to push it a little further. "Ya got anything on under that robe?"

Buffy emits a shy giggle, but tries to play coy. "You'll just have to use your imagination."

"Oh, trust me; I am," Faith tells her, voice coming out in almost a feral growl. Shit, she wasn't actually expecting Buffy to flirt back with her like this. Maybe H&H really does affect her; she's just shyer about it.

She doesn't know what the fuck's going on with that yogurt nonsense though. Girl's probably eating a whole pizza and lying about it.

There's a distinct pause for a moment before Buffy's curiosity apparently gets the best of her. "What are you wearing?" she asks. Faith smirks.

"Nothin'."

Buffy stumbles over that for a moment, like she isn't sure she heard her correctly. "Nothing? As in… nothingness? Non-existence of any clothing at all?" Her voice gets a little higher after each word she speaks and Faith tries like hell not to laugh.

"Yeah, B. Nothin', as in I'm sitting here talkin' to you buck naked."

There's a very long pause after that.

"Oh," Buffy finally says, her voice coming out as nothing more than a breathy whisper now. She's obviously entertaining that thought in her head. "Oh, I… okay. Uh…"

"I sleep that way," Faith explains, hoping that it'll calm Buffy's nerves down some if she knows she ain't just naked cause she's on the phone with her.

"Oh!" Buffy exclaims, much too enthusiastic about this revelation. "I knew that, yeah. Duh. Because, you know, clothes are… bad… and everything…" she trails off and Faith doesn't have to see her to know she winced at how that came out. It did sound kinda awkward. "I mean, not bad, obviously," Buffy tries to explain, attempting to cover up the awkwardness with an even more awkward explanation, "just, uncomfortable! To sleep in, you know, because of all the… uh, material. Yeah."

Faith can't hold it in any longer: she laughs. "Just take a breath, B," she advises, which prompts Buffy to mumble something that sounds a lot like an embarrassed 'shut up.'

There's another long pause after that, but Faith is determined to keep the flirting going as it's driving her libido forward. "Kinda wish you were here right now…" she tells her, fingers slightly teasing her nipples.

"Only kind of?" Buffy asks softly, her voice shy. Faith bites her lower lip, smirking a bit.

"More than kind of. Wanna see you in that robe," she tells her, voice low as she continues to tweak her nipples, pulling on them just hard enough to emit sparks that shoot right down to her center. She purses her lips and cradles the phone to ear before she finishes softly, "Kinda want to take the robe off of ya, actually…"

Faith can hear Buffy's breathing shallow for a second, followed by silence. She finally asks, "Wait, are we having phone sex?"

Leave it to Buffy to ask that.

Faith can't help but chuckle a little. "Not gonna lie; was kinda tryin'." The long pause that follows that makes Faith's hand still on her breast, realizing that she's probably pushing Buffy too far. "You freaking?" she asks.

"A little," Buffy admits quietly. "I just… I've never…"

"Ya don't gotta talk dirty to me, if you don't want to," Faith tries, trying to work around Buffy's nerves. "You can tell me about what you slayed tonight, or whatever. Don't care, just wanna… y'know, hear your voice."

"While you…?" Buffy asks, the unfinished question being clear enough for Faith.

"Yeah."

She can hear Buffy let out a heavy breath at the confirmation and the silence that follows nearly kills Faith. But she stays silent, letting this be Buffy's decision. Finally though the blonde starts, sounding a little nervous, "The first vamp I found I think used to be my Biology sub in middle school…"

Faith's eyes go wide. Buffy's actually letting her do this? Holy shit.

"Or, I don't know, he looked like him," Buffy goes on as Faith closes her eyes, settling back into her bed. She's not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all. She skips her breasts this time and goes straight to the goods as Buffy continues, "Anyway, if he was my Bio sub he must have been dead awhile because he didn't look like he had aged much. For a nerd, he was actually pretty good at fighting and I ended up totally ruining my knock off Manolo Blahniks when he threw me into a pile of mud."

"Sucks," Faith responds, thinking she should at least attempt to contribute a little to this conversation. Her voice is heavy though, her breathing already a little ragged as she slips her fingers over her clit, pushing her hips into her hand.

"Uhh… y-yeah," Buffy stutters for a moment, hearing how turned on Faith's getting. Her voice shakes with nerves and her own breathing gets a little heavier from the sounds Faith's making, but she goes on, "They're my favorite shoes, so… so I was pretty pissed off." She pauses, listening to Faith for a moment before she swallows and continues, "Then I screamed at him 'do you know how much these things are worth?' and he actually had the nerve to call me out and tell me they're knock offs!"

"Rude," Faith responds, though is barely listening by now. She can hear Buffy's voice, her tone, but she's having trouble actually focusing on actual words. She bites back a moan as she slips her fingers over her clit harder, bucking her hips into her hand. Though she can stifle her moans, she can't hide how labored her breathing has gotten and it seems to finally be getting to Buffy.

"Y-Yeah," she stammers, her own voice sounding much shallower. "He might… have been… gay—God, Faith; you're being really distracting," she interrupts herself in a rush, sounding like she's trying to control her own hormones after Faith emits an involuntary moan. "I can't… I can't think."

"Sorry," Faith apologizes breathlessly. She's not really sorry at all. Actually at this point, she's pretty firmly camped in 'this is fucking awesome' land. "You don't… gotta talk," she tries, pursing her lips together for a moment as she slips her fingers inside of herself, "Just… breathe…" the sound of Buffy's labored breathing was good enough for her at the moment.

"Breathe?" Buffy asks, sounding halfway between confused and turned on.

"Yeah," Faith responds, her voice almost a gasp as her hips twitch involuntarily. "Uggff, fuck," she gasps out, unable to keep it in any longer as she speeds up the pace of her fingers, twisting them slightly before slamming them back into her body. She can hear Buffy's breath catch in her throat and the blonde is silent for awhile, listening to Faith get herself off.

It isn't long before Faith knows exactly what she's doing. Buffy's breathing changes slightly, a tiny whimper escaping her lips as she can't take it anymore and starts touching herself. The sound turns Faith on immensely and she begins to imagine what Buffy's doing to herself right now. She's trying to hide it – Buffy that is – but Faith's heard women get themselves off more times than she should probably be proud of and there's no mistaking the sounds she's hearing.

"Wish I was fucking you 'stead of myself," Faith pants out, sliding her thumb over her clit as she pushes her fingers deeper into herself. "Wanna have you fuck my face 'till you cum in my mouth… wanna get ya thrashin' and grabbin' at the bed sheets as you scream my name…"

Buffy tries to stifle a moan at that, but fails miserably. "Shit," she breathes, probably pissed off that she let that slip and now Faith knows exactly what she's doing. She sounds embarrassed and Faith can hear her shuffling around, probably halting what she was doing not moments previously. Faith doesn't approve of that.

"Don't stop, B," Faith pleads breathlessly, slowing down her ministrations momentarily so she can actually form proper words. "Don't fuckin' stop… okay? Fuck everything, fuck bein' embarrassed about it. I ain't… ain't gonna…. Jesus," she loses her concentration momentarily and is interrupted by a moan, but she takes a breath after, trying to get relatively back on track. "I just… wanna fuckin' do this with you, okay?" she pleads, voice heavily labored.

"I…" Buffy starts, but trails off rather quickly. Faith can hear how turned on she in her voice and she's fucking praying she gives in. There's a heavy silence that hangs in the air before Buffy asks softly, "Just keep talking?" She sounds incredibly embarrassed, but that's still a good enough confirmation for Faith. Embarrassed or not, Buffy still wants to get off.

"Every time I fuck myself I think about fucking you," Faith tells her, speeding up the pace of her fingers as she clenches her eyes tightly shut. "Fuck, B… I… uggff…" she interrupts herself as she hears Buffy quietly whimper in her ear; it's the sexiest thing she's ever heard in her life. "I wanna have you tearin' at my back as I slam into you so hard you see stars in your eyes. I wanna lick every inch of your fuckin' body. I wanna… oh, fuck…" Her inner walls clench hard as she hears Buffy moan, not holding back this time.

God, she wishes more than anything that she was here right now. She'd fuck her so hard she wouldn't know what hit her.

"Put your fingers inside of yourself," Faith instructs breathlessly.

"They…" Buffy tries, but is cut off by another moan. Faith gets it: they already are. Pretty sure Buffy doesn't wanna say it out loud though. As far as steps go, this is a pretty damn big one in their relationship.

"Good," Faith encourages her softly, her breathing ragged as she slips her thumb over her clit a little harder. "Pretend it me… pretend it's me fucking you, B. I wanna be the one that makes you feel this way. I wanna be the one that makes you cum."

"Faith…" Buffy whimpers softly. Hearing Buffy say her name like that does something to Faith deep inside and she moans, slamming her fingers into herself harder as her insides clench. She knows she's not gonna last long. There's just something about Buffy's voice when she's turned on— hell, Faith's heard many women moan, pant, gasp but B… Buffy… fuck, she was the hottest.

"Fuck, B," Faith moans, tossing her head to the side as her hips pump frantically against her hand. "Jesus Christ… you sound so fuckin' sexy…" She bites back another moan once she hears Buffy getting a little louder. She keeps saying her name and it's driving Faith insane. She wishes she could just go over there right now and fuck her into oblivion.

Faith starts to feel the familiar burn start in the pit of her stomach as she becomes lightheaded. She can't speak anymore, but that's okay cause neither can Buffy. They're panting, moaning into the phone as they each get closer to the edge. Faith pictures Buffy with her fingers buried in her cunt, mouth slightly open and her eyes closed as she pleasures herself and the image alone is almost enough to make Faith cum instantly. She cries out loudly as she presses against her g spot, head swimming with the sound of Buffy's pleasure from the other end of the phone.

And then Buffy pants out, "Oh god… Oh, Faith… I wish you were here…" and suddenly Faith's coming harder than she ever has in her life. She screams out something inaudible that was supposed to be Buffy's name, but it turned out to be more like a mess of incoherent vowel sounds and strangled cries than anything else. Her whole body feels like its humming; her insides are clenching hard around her fingers and she bucks her hips, riding out her high.

When she's finally competent enough, she notices Buffy's breathing has calmed down significantly, even though Faith's pretty sure she didn't have an orgasm yet. "You cum?" she asks her breathlessly. Never in her life has she had to ask that before, but it's over the phone and maybe Faith's screams drowned her out or something.

"I… uh. Shit, I think my Mom's awake," Buffy whispers in the phone suddenly, ignoring her question. "I have to go." Faith tries to say something, but is cut off by the click of the phone as the line goes dead.

Okay, what the hell? If that doesn't spell avoiding the question, Faith doesn't know what does. She knows Buffy's voice when she's lying; her Mom isn't awake. So why the hell was she so quick to get her off the phone? Faith can't think of any other reason besides—

Holy shit.

Has Buffy never had an orgasm?

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