Chapter Twenty-Two - Truce

Faith knew she didn't like Angel for a reason.

A vampire, a fucking vampire.

He has a soul; he does good… yeah, yeah, whatever. He was a murdering bastard at one point in his undead life though, according to Giles and this little book he's now reading like it's the most fascinating thing in the world since sliced bread.

Not that Faith gets why sliced bread has ever been fascinating. Or was it the coolest thing since sliced bread? Whatever. That really isn't the point.

He didn't come back to the library with them; Angel, that is. He brooded silently a bit about everyone looking at him like he was going to take a chunk out of their neck when they were on their way back, but once they got there he said he was going to head underground to see if he can find out the Master's next move and that if they need any help in the future that they know where he is.

Faith was more thinking along the lines of if they need to stake him at some point in the immediate future they know where he is, but potato potahto.

Giles verified the soul… infusion, or whatever the fuck it was. A couple phone calls and some babble about someone owing him a favor later: he got a few slim details, but enough to prove that Angel really does have a soul stuffed into that rotting carcass of his.

To be fair, Faith gets that he saved her life tonight, twice. She also gets why she's more furious with his presence in this world than she's ever been because of one simple question that Giles asked and Buffy's vague answer:

"How did you find out that Angel was a vampire?"

Everyone sitting around the table looks at her; Faith, Willow, and Xander, each with equally curious faces, though Faith's was more annoyed than anything and Xander did look a little pissed off too. Buffy shifted her eyes, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks, "We uh… we were fighting and he… changed."

Buffy's a crap liar.

"Bullshit," Faith says flatly, eyes flashing. She really didn't like how red Buffy's face is getting and how she's completely avoiding her gaze specifically.

"Angel's just a friend, Faith," Buffy says quietly, fiddling with her purse nervously.

"Love how you defended that even though I didn't fuckin' accuse you of anything yet."

Buffy's eyes flash and she picks up her purse and slams it on the table, emitting a BANG! What the hell does she have in there? Rocks? "You've already made it clear that we aren't together so why the hell do you care what I do?" Buffy snaps.

Xander and Willow's eyes go wide and Giles clears his throat awkwardly and starts cleaning his glasses.

"Did you fuck that undead piece of meat?" Faith asks, disgusted. "Now I'm definitely never touchin' you."

"I didn't—" Buffy starts, but anger makes her explode onto another topic. "And you know what? I don't want you anywhere near me when I slay anymore – you're a liability!"

"Excuse you?"

"I almost got killed tonight because of your stupid hero antics!" Buffy yells. Faith stands up quickly, the chair she was in clattering to the ground as she leans forward over the table, sneering.

"Enough!" Giles exclaims. Buffy and Faith stop, but continue to glare at each other. "Now far be it from me to get involved in either of your personal lives but both of you must stop this childishness this instant. Need I remind you that the Master is still at large?"

'At large'. He sounds like that bitch that used to order you to go find Carmen Sandiego.

Don't look at her like that; they made her play that game in middle school; something about geography or some other such crap.

"She almost got me killed, Giles," Buffy accuses, pointing like the brat that she is. Faith flips her off.

"She almost got you killed because you allowed yourself to let your personal feelings interfere with your slaying," Giles tells her seriously. Faith has a look of triumph on her face before Giles turns to her, "I'd refrain from looking smug if I were you, Faith. You are guilty of the same weakness."

Faith scowls and rolls her eyes a bit before turning around and grabbing her chair off the ground and standing it upright. She sits down in a huff and folds her arms into herself.

"As for the Angel situation, I think it would be wise to enlist him as an ally," Giles goes on.

"What?" Xander asks, astounded.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Faith yells.

"He's a vampire!" Xander continues.

"He's fighting on our side!" Buffy interjects.

"He did save Faith's life… a-and help with killing the Vessel," Willow says. Buffy gives her an appreciative look.

"Every record of Angelus; his demon side, ceased around one hundred years ago," Giles tells them. "Gryack; the man I spoke too, told me that when Angel was reinsouled he would have insufferable torment. He was never seen or heard from until a couple decades ago. Guilt and redemption is a powerful motivator and after seeing his dedication in helping Buffy—"

"Yeah, help take her clothes off," Faith muttered. Buffy shoots her a look.

"—with the Master, among other battles, I do believe letting him assist us would be the wisest move," Giles says. He pauses for a minute, fiddling with the glasses on his nose. "Though if he tries to kill us all, I give you all full permission to say 'I told you so.'"

"That's comforting," Xander replies dryly.

"He's good," Buffy tells them all. "I know it, I can feel it."

"Yeah, in your pants," Faith mutters. She knows she's being one big fuckin' immature brat, but she can't exactly stop words from coming out of her mouth sometimes.

"Okay, seriously?" Buffy snaps, eyes flashing dangerously. "Did you or did you not hear what I told you a couple days ago? What you've been shoving down my throat since the first day you met me?"

"Just cause you're—" Faith starts, but is interrupted by Giles.

"Girls! This is getting ridiculous," Giles exclaims. "Buffy, you are the Slayer. And Faith, you are a Potential Slayer. You two will be working together side by side every day and I will not tolerate you both getting yourselves killed because you cannot work out your differences."

"But she's the one—" Buffy starts to blame, but is silenced by Giles.

"I've seen childishness on both parts. Now I want you both to go into my office and work out the problems you have with each other while Willow, Xander and I do more research. I will not have the fate of the world rest on the shoulders of a teenage hormone parade."

Faith snorts. "Seriously G? Hormone parade?" While it's kind of insulting, it's also really funny.

"Go, now," Giles says, indicating his office. He's got that stern fatherly look about him that makes Faith grumble under her breath because she knows she's going to do what he says. She rolls her eyes though, a little sign of defiance as she gets up and stomps into Giles' office, Buffy behind her.

"More research?" Faith hears Xander groan before Buffy shuts the door behind her.

Faith flops down on Giles' swivel chair at his desk and props her feet up. She folds her arms over herself and cocks an eyebrow at Buffy who leans back against the wall, looking at her. This isn't gonna be pleasant. "So… did ya fuck him?"

"We're supposed to be working out our differences, not starting another fight," Buffy reminds her, annoyed.

"And this is me workin' shit out," Faith explains with a little click of her tongue in irritation. She peers at her with a sadistic smirk on her face before she goes on, "So did ya like his cold dead cock all up in ya? Bet you masturbate with a popsicle now; tryin' to relive that nasty little deed." Yeah, a bit vulgar, but hey; she's pissed here.

"I didn't sleep with him, Faith!" Buffy exclaims. "I don't spread my legs for just anyone that walks by!" Faith can tell that Buffy had to stop herself before she said something along the lines of 'unlike you,' which was probably wise on her behalf.

"Well ya sure as hell didn't find out he was a vamp durin' a fight."

Buffy looks away, flushing a little bit again. She folds her arms self-consciously before she admits, "We just… kissed; once."

He vamps out when he kisses people? That's kinda fucked up.

"When?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Cause I asked the fuckin' question, Blondie."

Buffy glares at her demanding attitude and Faith just stares back at her. They have a silent battle of wills for a moment before Buffy finally speaks.

"A couple weeks ago," she tells her, and then shrugs. "Look, I don't understand why you're so upset. Nothing is going on between us. It was one kiss; a kind of spur of the moment thing, but I told him that I wasn't interested in him like that and he understands. Besides, you really don't have any room to get pissed off with me over it because it's not like there's anything between us."

"I'm pissed cause ya let that undead monkey touch you, thought you were better than that."

"And I thought you were better than letting half this town sleep with you!" Buffy cries, looking hurt.

"You don't know jack shit about my sex life, B, so don't fuckin' pretend to," Faith snaps. She picks up a pencil from Giles' desk, trying to occupy her hands so she doesn't up and hit her, but it snaps between her fingers quickly. She throws the broken pieces to the ground, annoyed.

"I know enough," Buffy tells her. "You're the one that said all you're good for is sex and I'm the one who walked in and had to hear you with that girl that night! Do you have any idea how crappy that was for me?! I was already confused about how I felt about you and then we almost…" she trails off, shaking her head. "And then not ten minutes later you're having loud, dirty, public sex with that slut!"

"That slut has a fuckin' name," Faith snaps, eyes flashing. "Her name was Trish and she fuckin' died tonight. So ya maybe wanna lay off about her?!"

Buffy's eyes go wide. "Oh God, Faith. I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"

"Yeah well, no use cryin' over it," Faith says, staring at the far wall. It wasn't like she loved Trish, she barely even liked her half the time, but she was kind of a friend… or something. It just sucks.

"Faith…"

"Just fuckin' forget about it. Don't wanna talk or hug and cry or whatever the hell else ya think we're gonna do. Trish ain't the point right now," Faith tells her flatly, keeping all of her emotions in check except annoyance, which was an acceptable one to let out.

"So what is the point?" Buffy asks quietly.

"Fuck if I know. Not fighting? Whatever Giles sent us in here to do."

"Well if we want to stop doing that maybe you could start being a little less jealous," Buffy says softly. Faith scoffs.

"I ain't fuckin' jealous."

"You're not angry because Angel's a vampire!" Buffy exclaims, frustrated. "Even before you met him you hated him because you thought there was something going on between him and me!"

"He was stalking you," Faith says dangerously.

"No, he wasn't! God, do you even listen to yourself when you speak? Stalkers don't help me kill the bad guys; they have creepy wall collages of pictures and… I don't know, binoculars or something! Will you just admit that you didn't like him because you were jealous?!"

"I ain't fuckin' jealous because jealousy implies that I want you to myself and I sure as fuck don't want that," Faith says flatly. She cocks an eyebrow at her and goes on, "You're hot, B, okay? I'll give ya that. And yeah, I thought about fuckin' the hell outta ya maybe once or twice. But you're my fuckin' friend and that's all you're ever gonna be. Just cause I wanna stick my tongue down your throat doesn't mean I want a relationship."

"I'm not asking for one!"

"Whatever. You've been all moon-eyed over me for weeks now," Faith points out.

"I don't know why. You're such an asshole sometimes," Buffy mumbles, annoyed. She shakes her head, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Maybe you're right," she says quietly. She sighs. "I liked it when we were friends. This? This is complicated and confusing and all it's doing is making us fight."

"Well then quit having a crush on me and everything will be better," Faith tells her.

"You quit being territorial over me then!"

"I'm not fuckin'—"

"Faith! You are! God, can you just stop being such a defensive prick and just admit it?!" Buffy cries. "Do I really have to keep drilling into your head the whole Angel thing?! I'm sure the next guy or girl that shows any kind of interest in me you're going to be all angry broody girl again, and it doesn't make any sense because you said you don't want—"

"I DON'T WANT ANY OTHER FUCKER HAVING YOU BEFORE ME, ALRIGHT?!" Faith screams in fit of anger, pushing everything off of Giles' desk. Things clatter to the floor and Buffy just stares at her, eyes wide.

Fuck, that wasn't supposed to come out.

There's silence between them for a moment and Faith really wishes she could reverse time or just beat the hell out of Buffy so that she doesn't remember what she just admitted. Neither scenario seemed like it would work though, the latter only because Buffy would probably wipe the floor with her.

She really fuckin' hates that she's stronger than her.

"Faith... you said you didn't want to be with me. So why…?"

"I don't want a relationship with you, B. I do wanna fuck your brains out though," Faith says crudely. "And it kinda pisses me off that you're my friend because if you weren't you'd already be seduced, fucked, then thrown outta my bed the next morning."

"So what… is this a 'wanting what you can't have' sort of thing?" Buffy asks slowly, trying to figure her out.

Faith laughs, "Please. I can have you if I wanted and you know it."

"Actually no, Faith. I don't just jump into bed with anyone. I do actually like to have a relationship first," Buffy tells her, annoyed that she thinks so little of her.

"You can preach high and mighty all day, Princess. But the truth is if I wanted to fuck you, you'd be fucked. No questions asked."

"You can't just assume that I'd—!"

"And for your information, Twinkie; the only reason I haven't fuckin' done it is because ya got a thing for me and it'll hurt you. So some credit where it's due would be nice," Faith finishes.

"Fine. Thanks for not making me into another one of your whores, Faith," Buffy says sarcastically.

"You're welcome."

"You're completely infuriating, you know that?!" Buffy cries, beyond irritated. She throws her hands up in the air and starts pacing a little. "Why is it that the only thing you care about is sex? Can't you be a normal person and want the intimacy that's supposed to go along with that?!"

"Intimacy is for pussies."

"No, you're a pussy. You're just scared of letting someone in, Faith," Buffy tells her, stopping her pacing and rounding to face her.

"And you think you're the one that I should let in, do ya?" Faith mocks.

"Actually from what I've seen so far I'd rather not be that person," Buffy tells her. "Trying to have a relationship with you would be like chewing on nails." She pauses, "Actually chewing on nails sounds more pleasant."

"Fuck you."

"Faith, I care about you," Buffy tells her seriously, ignoring her rudeness. "I don't know why but apparently I do and I don't think that's going to change. But I'm… I'm going through some stuff right now. The Master wants to kill us all and on top of that I realized I'm…"

"A dyke?" Faith offers.

"A lesbian," Buffy corrects, flushing a little in embarrassment. "But I… I don't know; I know I need someone who's going to be patient with me and well, you're definitely not that. I'm not stupid, but maybe I was a little hopeful that you weren't so self-involved and carrying more baggage than Cordelia on a day trip. But you are, so I'm sorry I tried to… whatever I tried to do. Make you care more, or something."

"I don't have baggage," Faith mutters.

"You have more issues then a stack of magazines, Faith. Anyone who's talked to you for five minutes can realize that," Buffy tells her honestly. Faith rolls her eyes and flips her the finger.

"Fuck you and your issues, Summers."

"Can you stop being defensive? We're supposed to be working stuff out. I apologized, didn't I? I think it's your turn."

"What the hell do I have to be sorry for?" Faith snaps.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe you could touch on the whole possessive thing," Buffy says sarcastically, "just a thought."

"Fine. I'm fuckin' sorry I wanted to bang ya."

"That's not—"

"Are we done now?" Faith interrupts.

Buffy sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "We're still… annoyed, aren't we? Well, I know you are."

"I'm fine."

She's not fine.

"No you're not, you're snapping at me," Buffy tells her. "What did I say that pissed you off?"

"Nothing."

"Faith, just tell me or we'll never get out of this room."

Faith sighs, annoyed. She flicks a pen off the desk and grumbles without looking at her, "I just don't fuckin' like you assumin' I got issues. You don't know me, so I think you should fuck off about that."

"Fine, I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again, okay?" Buffy tries. Faith still doesn't look at her. "Faith please… I want to be friends."

"We are friends," Faith says flatly.

"Not really, all we do is yell at each other, at least lately." Faith doesn't say anything so Buffy crosses the room to kneel down so that she's eye level with Faith who's still sitting on the chair. She puts her hand on her leg, trying to get her attention. "Can you look at me for a second?"

Faith rolls her eyes and turns to look at her. "Jesus, what?"

"You're the only person I know that gets what I have to deal with right now," Buffy tells her. "You're training right now to possibly replace me, Faith. When I die. So you get the world I live in and you understand that we have a higher chance of dying in the next week than most people. Maybe that's why I feel close to you and maybe I mistook that for other feelings, I don't know. Maybe I have both. But I want us to be friends at least because you're the only one who really gets what's going on with me, and I'm the only one who really gets what's going on with you."

Faith raises an eyebrow at her and is silent for a moment, contemplating what Buffy just said. Then she says, "Jeez B, that was kinda mushy."

"Don't make fun of me."

"I ain't, I was just sayin'," Faith says with a smirk. She leans back in the chair and points out, "Ya forgot the whole gay thing too."

"Yeah well, I don't think you helping me work through that part of my life would be the best thing in the world. I think we need to… maybe try and stay away from all those…" she blushes, "other feelings. If we do maybe we'll stop fighting."

Faith shrugs, "Maybe. Whatever. I'm starved, can we get somethin' to eat or do ya think Giles is gonna try to make us stay and research?"

"Research probably," Buffy says, but smiles because she knows that's as much of an admission of a truce as she's going to get out of Faith.

"Is there a back way outta here?" Faith asks, looking around hopefully.

Buffy giggles a little, standing up and leaning against the wall. "Not unless you want to drill a hole in the wall." Then she gets a look on her face like she knew she shouldn't be giving Faith ideas.

Faith smirks, looking devious. "Got a drill?"

Chapter Twenty-Three - The New Girl

"Homecoming is in two weeks," Buffy mentions the next afternoon as she looks at the fliers hanging on the lockers, officially announcing the festivities that all the students have been talking about for months. Faith rolls her eyes.

"Don't remind me."

"Aren't you going to go?" Buffy asks, surprised. She stops at her locker and starts to fiddle with the combination as Faith leans against the one next to hers.

"Not unless forced at gunpoint."

Buffy rolls her eyes as she opens her locker, putting away her books for the day. "Let me guess; you have an aversion to dresses."

"No. I look fuckin' hot in dresses, or, well, anything really," Faith says smirking. But then she shrugs, "But the last thing I wanna do is waste a Friday night hangin' with all the losers in this joint," a beat; "with no alcohol."

"Well I'm going," Buffy informs her with a little self satisfied smile. "Mom is helping me pick out a dress this weekend. I was thinking white."

White; virginal. Yeah, sounds like Buffy, though Faith would have guessed pink if anything, just because it's so girly.

"Oh yeah? And who ya gonna go with?" Faith asks, maybe a little spitefully. Yeah they've agreed to be just friends but she'd like to know who's gonna have their grabby little hands all over her… friend. Whatever.

Buffy flushes a little. "You don't need a date to go, Faith. Me, Willow and Xander are all planning to go together," she tells her. She closes her locker and looks at her. "You should come."

"Not likely." She hands Buffy back her lock, who looks surprised and then annoyed that Faith had taken it without her noticing. As she puts it back on her locker Faith continues, "And no one asked ya? Are all the fuckin' idiots in this place blind?"

Buffy looks a little embarrassed at her compliment and smiles shyly. "I didn't say no one asked me, Faith," she tells her coyly before she turns to walk away. "I just didn't want to go with any of them."

Faith cocks an eyebrow and follows her, walking side by side down the crowded hallway of students. "Who?" she asks.

"John Barkley, Robert Lows, Gerald Ryson, Joey Lankton, Nate Baker—" Buffy starts to list.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Damn," Faith says, holding up her hand to Buffy to make her stop as she looks at her in surprise. Even though Buffy isn't hanging out with Cordelia anymore she still seems quite popular.

Too bad she's a lesbian. That makes Faith smirk; knowing that all those fuckers don't got a chance in hell.

…Okay maybe she is a little bit possessive. But is it her fault that she doesn't want Buffy to date football players? I mean for fuck's sake, if she gave them half a chance they'd pay attention to her long enough to get under her skirt and then throw her away. And who would Buffy come crying to?

Well maybe Willow first, but Faith would probably be somewhere down on that list.

And yeah, she gets that that's the kind of shit she does to women so maybe it's a little hypocritical to want to stop people from doing that kinda crap to Buffy, but she doesn't do it to her so really, somewhere in her head, it all makes sense.

Buffy's like the exception to the rule.

"Well you asked," Buffy says with a shrug. She peers at her, "Didn't anyone ask you?"

"B, I'm a dyke that everyone's piss scared of, so no."

Buffy stops suddenly, making Faith stop with her. Buffy looks up at her and asks, "Do you want someone to ask you?" She's looking at her like she's trying to study her; Faith hates that look.

"What the fuck do ya take me for? Like I give a rat's ass," Faith brushes it off, pushing past her to keep walking. But Buffy grabs her arm and pulls her back towards her.

"Faith, will you go to Homecoming with me?" she asks suddenly, like she had to force up the courage to ask one simple question. She purses her lips as she waits for Faith's answer, her hand still on her arm.

Faith blinks at her for a moment, then busts out laughing. "You can't be serious," she tells her, like it's completely ridiculous. "B, yesterday we agreed to be just friends."

Buffy looks annoyed and a little embarrassed by her laughing and she hits her in the arm. Faith winces; fuck she hates it when she hits her. "I know that! I didn't mean as a couple. I mean like as a date… but not in a couply way; a casual date. I don't know; you said no one asked you and I think that's really stupid because you're beautiful and I think anyone would be lucky to take you."

Faith's taken aback by that, and her face shows it. That might actually be one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to her. "You're serious?" she asks skeptically.

"Of course I am."

Faith still looks at her skeptically, "Isn't this too big of a statement for you?"

Buffy looks confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean like bringin' a chick as your date in front of your whole school; comin' out, Princess," she clarifies. Buffy's eyes go a bit wide.

"Oh, no, I… well that's why it'd be casual! I mean I don't want to—"

"Be who you are?" Faith answers for her pointedly. Buffy sighs.

"Nevermind, forget I asked," she says as she turns away from her. But this time it's Faith's turn to grab her arm, pulling her back.

"Look I'll go to the stupid dance if ya want. I mean; me, you, Red, and Xand… we'll just all hang or whatever," Faith says. "I'll sneak in some booze and maybe it won't suck as much."

Buffy chews on her bottom lip a little, looking worried. "Just so we're clear… I wasn't asking you out," she tells her. "I mean we said—"

"Then what the hell was that? Pity?" Faith interrupts, annoyed. She's not going to be anyone's fucking pity date.

"No!" Buffy exclaims. "I just… I don't know, Faith! I'm sorry I asked, okay? I know we're supposed to be doing the friend thing but I really do think it's stupid that no one else asked you and… I guess I just think you deserve to be asked, so I did. But I do want you to go, Faith. We can all just go as friends and that's fine."

"Whatever."

"Faith…"

"Hey guys!" Willow exclaims, bounding up to them excitedly.

Faith takes that opportunity to ignore Buffy and drop the subject completely. "Hey Red, ain't seen you all day."

"Snyder had me showing a new girl around," Willow explains. "Y-You know that school that had the fire? The all girl's boarding school? It's not going to reopen until next year so all the students have to go to other schools for the rest of the year. We have at least twenty new students."

"Great" Faith groans, just what this school needs; boarding school brats.

Though, on the other hand; all girls' boarding school… bound to be some lesbians in there. Faith smirks; fresh meat.

Buffy smacks her arm.

"Ow! What the fuck, B?!" Faith exclaims, rubbing the offended area.

"Everyone in a five mile radius heard what you were just thinking, Faith," Buffy says flatly.

"What was she thinking?" Willow asks, clueless. Faith snickers and Buffy glares at her before turning to Willow.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"All girl's boarding school, Red," Faith explains with a smirk. "Just think of the possibilities." Her mind is swimming with them right now, that's for sure.

Willow blushes a deep shade of crimson, finally getting what Faith is referring too. But then a voice behind them calls out, "Willow!" and all three of them turn to look at a slender brunette girl jog up to them. "Hey," she greats her with a smile, then indicates the books in her hands. "Do you remember where my locker is? This place is a complete fucking disaster trying to get around."

"Oh! Y-Yeah," Willow stutters a little, smiling nervously at her. "I-It's just around the corner."

"Who's your friend, Red?" Faith asks, checking the girl out. Buffy looks at her furiously but Faith doesn't notice. What she does notice though is the girl's eyes sweep down her body and then back up with a little hint of a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Oh, s-sorry! Kennedy, this is Faith and Buffy," Willow introduces. "She's the girl I was talking about."

"You were talking about me?" Kennedy asks, looking over at Willow with a cocky smirk on her face. Willow blushes a little.

"I-I was just… t-telling them that you just transferred here."

Damn, Willow is more nervous than usual.

Faith sees why though once she notices Kennedy checking Willow out. Damn, out and proud, obviously. Faith kinda likes that; that she doesn't provide explanation or apology for the way she is because Faith's like that too. Faith doesn't go around screaming she's gay but if you just take a second to look it's pretty obvious.

Faith leans against the lockers and crosses her arms over her chest, making sure to accentuate her breasts. It doesn't go unnoticed by Kennedy… or Buffy for that matter, who looks like steam is about to pour out of her ears. But Faith's attention is focused on the brunette for the moment because she knows she has more of a chance of getting laid with her.

Might be wrong, but hey that's life.

"So was it you that burned your school down?" Faith asks with a smirk. Kennedy laughs.

"No, I actually kind of liked it there. The uniforms were shit but my parents are pretty loaded and thought it'd 'better my education'," she mocks with finger quotes. "I liked it cause of all the… options though," she tells her with a flirty look.

Yeah, Faith is so gonna fuck this chick at least once.

"Well it was nice to meet you, Kennedy," Buffy says shortly, her annoyance coming through her voice. "But Faith and I need to get to the library."

"Oh, yeah, I gotta go there too to see a Mr… Giles?" Kennedy asks, looking a little unsure of the name. "I… have to get some books from him."

Buffy doesn't look too happy that she'll be joining them.

"You a Junior?" Faith asks, trying to guess her age.

"Sophomore," Kennedy corrects.

"What I should be," Faith tells her with a smirk before pushing herself off the lockers and giving her a nod of her head. "Come on."

They start walking together down the hall, leaving Buffy and Willow to stare after them for a moment before following. "Held back?" Kennedy asks, looking her over. Faith doesn't really blame her for making that assessment, a lot of people would. She has 'trouble child' written all over her.

"Skipped ahead."

"No shit?"

"Mhm. I'm some kinda fuckin' prodigy," Faith says with a smirk. She looks over at her, "You intimidated?" she teases.

"Not in the slightest," Kennedy says with a little laugh as they stroll through the library doors. Giles looks up as he sees them enter and looks a little surprised to see Faith with another girl until a very grumpy looking Buffy follows behind them with Willow… and then Xander who runs in looking a little horrified. He slams the doors closed behind them and presses his back up against it and everyone looks at him questionably.

"Did we all get sucked into an alternate universe?" he asks seriously.

"What the fuck are ya runnin' from?" Faith asks, looking at him; Buffy's on full alert, probably wondering if a teacher ended up revealing itself to be a demon.

"Nothing, I… it's been a weird day," Xander says, blinking a little heavily as he shakes his head and steps away from the door. "Nevermind." Then he looks around and looks a little sheepish when he realizes there's someone he doesn't know in the room. "Hi… person I've never met. I'm not usually this frantic; I'm usually very put together. 'Put together Xander', that's what they call me!" He winces a little at how lame that sounded, "Or just Xander, if you want to shorten it."

"Kennedy, this is Xander," Willow introduces with an amused smile.

"Hey," Kennedy says, seemingly uninterested as she turns back to Faith. Xander lets out a breath he seemed to be holding.

"Right," Giles says, looking at Xander like he shouldn't run in here like that unless the world's about to be eaten by giant turtles or something. He turns back to the girls. "I see you've all have already met Kennedy, then."

"Whoa, how the fuck do you know her?" Faith asks, looking surprised since Kennedy wasn't even sure of his name five minutes ago.

"Wait, they all know?" Kennedy asks, looking alarmed.

"Know what?" Buffy asks, annoyed. "Giles!"

"Sorry, I meant to inform you yesterday but with the eventful day we had it slipped my mind," Giles apologizes, even though 'eventful' didn't even seem to cover it. "Buffy, Faith, this is Kennedy; another potential Slayer. Her Watcher just called, he should be joining us shortly."

"No way, seriously?" Faith asks, looking at her surprised. "Wicked."

"Are you the Slayer?" Kennedy asks her, just as surprised.

"Actually, that would be me," Buffy says, raising her hand in annoyance. Kennedy looks at her skeptically, not thinking that a girl who wears pastels would be the big bad Slayer.

"You?"

Buffy gives her an irritated look before she picks up the letter opener Giles has laying on his desk and throws it at the board that Giles was having them use for target practice; perfect bulls eye. Kennedy raises her eyebrows, impressed. "Okay; you then." Giles looks annoyed that she just threw his letter opener and goes to retrieve it with a sigh.

"Yeah; me," Buffy says challengingly. Faith raises her eyebrows at her attitude.

"Since Kennedy has been transferred here, the Council believes that it would be best if the three of you train together, under the supervision of myself and Kennedy's Watcher."

"So you two only have one Watcher?" Kennedy asks, looking between them both.

"After the passing of Buffy's first Watcher, Merrick, I was assigned to them both, yes," Giles answers for them. "But now that you have come, the responsibility of Buffy will be shared between myself and your Watcher who—" he's interrupted as the Library doors open and a younger, stuffier version of Giles walks through the door. Oh Christ. "—is here, I see," Giles finishes. He gets up, walking over to the other man and extends his hand in introduction, "Rupert Giles."

"Wesley Wyndam-Price," the man introduces himself, shaking Giles' hand. Kennedy rolls her eyes and Faith smirks; she already knows all she needs to know about this dude by the way Kennedy acts around him.

Wesley looks around the room, surprised. "And who are these… teenagers?" he asks, looking like he wasn't expecting this many people.

"This is Buffy; whom I assume you already know is the Slayer," Giles tells him, indicating the annoyed girl by the desk who is busy breaking pencils in half and staring at Faith and Kennedy. "Faith; my Potential," he indicates Faith who's too busy talking to Kennedy in whispered voices. "And their friends; Willow and Xander."

"And they all know?" Wesley asks, horrified by this revelation. "The Council strictly orders that the Slayer's identity must be kept secret!"

"You think he's ever gotten laid?" Faith asks in a whisper to Kennedy, eying the girl's Watcher.

"If he has, it didn't help," Kennedy says flatly, Faith smirks.

"Uptight?"

"There isn't even a word for what he is," Kennedy tells her in a low voice, snickering. Faith chuckles a little and whispers something into Kennedy's ear.

Buffy breaks another pencil.

"I'm aware of what the Council orders," Giles replies, looking a bit annoyed himself. "But as you should know, it isn't always possible. Throughout the years there have been many instances of civilians knowing the Slayer's true identity. And as you are also aware; Slayer's are teenager girls. Trying to keep a teenage girl away from her friends is next to impossible in this day and age."

Wesley doesn't seem to have a retort for that, but still looks less than pleased.

"Well," Wesley replies, a little flustered as he takes off his glasses and cleans them with a handkerchief. "I assume you will be filling Kennedy and I in about the situation with the Master, since I am to act as the Slayer's Watcher as well."

"The Slayer has a name," Buffy replies annoyed.

"I'm sorry; Buffy," Wesley corrects himself. Buffy's eyes flash and she looks at Giles.

"Am I going to be able to hit things soon or can I leave while you guys have your boring meeting?"

"You allow her to talk to you that way?" Wesley asks, astounded.

Giles ignores Wesley. "Of course, you and Faith may do some sparring while I fill in Wesley and Kennedy about the situation here," he tells Buffy, who allows herself to give him an appreciative smile before her eyes lock onto Faith's, challenging.

Something about her look makes Faith feel like she's not about to get out of this unscathed.

"Oh and Buffy," Giles says as Buffy grabs the gym bag that holds her and Faith's workout clothes from behind the desk. She looks over at him and he tells her pointedly, seeing the look in her eye, "Need I remind you about the conversation we had yesterday? And remember to pull your punches."

"Yeah, yeah, I won't kill her," Buffy mumbles before she throws the bag over her shoulder and walks out the library doors to go to the bathroom to change. Faith glances at Kennedy.

"I'll be back."

Kennedy nods as Faith leaves, following Buffy to the bathroom. When she opens the door she finds her workout clothes have been thrown on the floor and Buffy's already in the stall changing. "What the fuck is your issue, B?" Faith snaps, picking up her clothes from off the ground.

"I don't have an issue, F," Buffy mocks from inside the stall.

Liar.

"You've been a bitch ever since Kennedy showed up," Faith tells her as she goes into another stall to change. She strips off her shirt in one smooth motion.

"I'm fine, Faith," Buffy snaps, but then Faith hears a bang; Buffy must have kicked something.

"Yeah, ya sound real fine," Faith mocks under her breath as she pulls on her tank top.

"Just leave me alone."

Faith sighs. "Whatever." She's not going to get into another fight with her.

They dress in silence and after Faith exits her stall she turns to the one Buffy's in, which is silent. Faith knows she's not changing anymore; she can't hear her shuffling around. Her guess is that Buffy's just sitting on the toilet either moping about something or trying to calm down. She knocks on the door lightly. "Ya die in there?"

"I'm fine."

"Well ya gonna come out?"

"Probably not," Buffy whispers, sounding upset. Faith looks concerned, her eyebrows knitting together. What the hell happened?

"B?"

"Just go away…"

"B, if ya don't open the stall door I'm gonna climb under it," Faith tells her seriously.

"The floor is disgusting, Faith," Buffy tells her.

"Then ya better get your ass out here."

But Buffy doesn't move. Faith waits there for a moment before sighing heavily and dropping to the ground. She starts to crawl under the stall door, hoping to fuck the floor has been washed recently at least. "Faith!" Buffy protests angrily as she sees the girl slide into her stall.

"Told ya I would," Faith says, picking herself up off the ground and dusting herself off. She looks down at Buffy who's sitting on the toilet, arms wrapped around hers. Her eyes look red. "Why are you cryin'?"

"I'm not," Buffy shoots back, angry. She furiously wipes away what are so obviously tears on her cheeks as she stands up. "Let's just go." She moves to push past her but Faith stands her ground. Buffy's eyes flash at her dangerously. "Don't make me put you through the door," she warns.

"'Big Bad Scary Slayer' don't work on me, B," Faith tells her, crossing her arms in front of her chest defiantly. "Now ya gonna tell me what's up or are we just gonna stay trapped in this little space forever?"

"Will you just leave me alone for once?!" Buffy shrieks.

"No, you're my fuckin' friend, Buffy. If you're cryin' I'm damn sure gonna want to know why then kick the shit out of the asshole who caused it."

"Then kick the shit out of yourself," Buffy tells her flatly.

"Me?" What the fuck did she do?

"Yes you! You are such an insufferable idiot, Faith! In what warped reality do you think it's okay for me to watch you hang all over another girl?!" Buffy yells at her.

Faith blinks, shocked… and a little confused. "You mean Kennedy?" she asks, like she's not sure.

"No, Willow," Buffy says dryly before she bursts out with, "Of course Kennedy!" She shoves her back into the stall door, making it shake.

"I was just flirtin' with her," Faith tries to defend, slapping Buffy's hands away from her. It's not like she made out with her in front of her or anything!

"And you think that's an acceptable thing to do in front of me?!" Buffy yells. "I know we decided to just be friends, Faith, but I need more than a day to get used to seeing you pick up other women! God, do you even think?! I'm not like you; I can't just pretend to bury everything. I still like you, Faith! A lot! That's going to take more than a day to get over, damnit!"

Well okay, Faith wasn't expecting that little burst of truth from Buffy. Shit, she feels like such an asshole.

"I'm sorry," Faith responds; it's the best she can offer her. She didn't really even think about it; she just did what came naturally when presented with a hot lesbian… or maybe bisexual, Faith isn't really sure on that matter. It's not like she was purposely trying to hurt Buffy or make her jealous or… whatever else. But Buffy's… she's not going to be hers' tonight or any other night so it's time to move on, right? Faith still has priorities; one of them getting laid.

But another is not hurting Buffy, and right now that seems to be the more important one to Faith with how completely shitty she feels for doing it.

"Just forget it," Buffy says, trying to push past her, but Faith won't move.

"B… I said I was sorry."

"Just move out of my way, Faith. Now."

"No."

"Faith! I don't want to have to make you move!"

"No, Buffy! I'm tryin' to fuckin' apologize for being a jackass here, the least you can fuckin' do is listen to me!" Faith yells, getting more frustrated by the minute. Why are things never simple with Buffy?!

"You're always a jackass!" Buffy screams, pushing her back. "You're inconsiderate, you're crude, you're selfish and you're a slut! You don't give a crap about anyone but yourself and your damn vagina and yet all I want to do when I look at you is to just—" she pushes her back again, but the words never come. Instead Buffy's lips collide with hers, kissing her with fierce, angry passion. It's probably one of the sexiest things Faith's ever witnessed; Buffy's anger turning sexual, which hey, might prove how screwed up she really is but that doesn't slow her libido down any.

For the first time Buffy's really letting go when she kisses Faith; her hands tangling in her hair as she sucks on her bottom lip, biting it softly like she's trying to claim her. Faith's hands grab onto Buffy's hips and she lifts her up, supporting her weight before pressing Buffy's back to the wall of the bathroom stall. Faith kisses her back with just as much passion as she's receiving, not bothering to stop and think about what the hell they're starting again.

Buffy wraps her legs tightly around Faith's torso as the latter pushes her up harder against the wall so she won't fall while one of her hands slides up Buffy's stomach, taking her shirt with her until she stops at her rib cage. Buffy pants softly into her mouth, eyes closed as she continues to kiss her with abandon, her grip tightening on Faith's hair as her fingers move slowly upwards… underneath her bra. She cups her breast in her hand and she can feel Buffy let out a shaky exhale that tickles her bottom lip. "Jesus, Faith…" she breathes as Faith's fingertips tease her nipple.

But then a switch goes off inside of Buffy and she pulls her lips away from hers and says breathless, "Shit, Faith, stop." She pushes her hands off of her roughly and Faith steps back, breathless and confused as Buffy slides down her body to land on her feet. "We can't do this," Buffy tells her, fixing her shirt hastily. "I'm not… I'm not going to just let you have me in this… God!" she groans and runs her fingers through her hair, looking like she hates herself.

"Buffy?" Faith asks, still confused as to what the hell is going on.

"I'm not going to give you what you want!" Buffy exclaims. "I'm not going to just let you have sex with me just because it's the only way you'll ever be interested!"

What?

"Is that what you think I was trying to do?" Faith asks, offended like all hell now.

"You were feeling me up!"

"Well you were acting like you wanted me too!" Faith defends. God, can she ever catch a break? "That doesn't fuckin' mean I was gonna screw you in this stall like some kinda whore!"

"It's what you do to everyone else!"

" BUT I WOULDN'T DO THAT TO YOU!" Faith screams.

"You said you don't want a relationship, Faith, so what else am I supposed to think?!"

"That I'd at least have the decency to take you back to my motel room first!" Faith defends loudly. She does have better standards when it comes to Buffy after all.

Unfortunately, Buffy doesn't see it that way.

Buffy looks at her like she can't believe she just said that. "But you'd still sleep with me and then never bother again, right?" Faith doesn't answer her. "Right?!"

"What do ya want me to say, B?!"

"Nothing; this was a stupid idea. I don't know why I…" she trails off, shaking her head at herself. She's silent for a moment until she looks up at Faith, face hardening in determination. "We… we have to be just friends, Faith. You were right; that's all we can ever be so you won't hurt me." She sighs softly folding her arms into herself. Neither of them say anything for a few seconds, until suddenly Buffy looks up and gets in her face with a look of warning, "But… don't you dare parade around with all your little sluts in front of me again. If you really want to be my friend then you need to realize that it hurts me. You have to give me time and I'll give you the same courtesy."

"I don't care who you date," Faith lies.

Buffy laughs, like it's absurd. "Yes you do." Faith glares at her but Buffy goes on, "Just don't do it to me and I won't do it to you, okay? Otherwise we won't be able to be around each other and we… we have to be."

Right, cause of the whole Slayer thing.

Faith sighs, defeated. Fuck, her life was never this complicated until Buffy came into it. She shrugs and crosses her arms, looking defensive, "Fine, whatever."

"Thank you," Buffy replies. She purses her lips together before she unlatches the stall door, swinging it open. "Come on; we have to train." Faith just stares at her as she walks out, and it takes all of thirty seconds before she does something stupid.

"Buffy?" she calls, grabbing the stall door as she turns to look out at Buffy's retreating form. Buffy turns to look at her and she tells her quickly before she loses her nerve, "I'll go to Homecoming with you; I want to go with you."

Buffy looks at her a little sadly, Faith's effort being a little too late, "Don't complicate things, Faith," she tells her softly before turning and walking out of the bathroom, leaving Faith alone. Faith sighs and leans against the stall, banging her head against it. Well that was a fuckin' stupid thing to do.

And how the hell did she manage to get asked on a date, accept, and then get turned down? That doesn't even make sense, damnit.

Fuck women.

Chapter Twenty-Four - Silly Lesbian; Dicks Are for Straight Chicks

Faith fucked off on training, but not like that's anything new.

Instead of going back into the library, Faith completely bailed. She was pissed, though probably because she felt fuckin' humiliated. It's just screwed up all to hell that when Faith decides for a second that yeah, maybe going on a date with Buffy wouldn't actually be so bad, that Buffy decides to, what, take it back? It's all so fucking high school that it makes Faith's brain bleed from the sheer stupidity of it, and it bothers her even more that it actually upsets her.

And maybe it's a good thing that Buffy said no, especially since Faith didn't actually think about what she was doing; she more acted on impulse. It was just one of those damn things that apparently float into your brain randomly and make you say stupid ass shit. But still… now the possibility is all entertained in her head; of her getting Buffy one of those retarded flower things for her wrist and whatever. Them in dresses and dancing and it'd all be so wicked stupid, obviously, but then why does part of her kind of want to do it anyway?

This is why she needs to get away from Buffy; obviously she's making her go insane.

"Figured this is where you went."

Faith looks up from where she was sitting, squinting into the sunlight as she watches Xander approach her. While he walks through the parking lot of her motel, she takes another drag of her cigarette. As she exhales she tells him, "Not exactly genius to find me at home, Xand."

"Giles is pissed," he tells her, flopping down on the ground and leaning against the door next to her. He waves his hand a little at the smoke coming in his direction and Faith switches hands so it doesn't blow directly in his face. "You made him look bad in front of Doctor Who."

"Okay first of all, that new Watcher ain't near as cool as Doctor Who, so don't even play," Faith says pointedly and gives him a look of warning. Xander just smirks and she takes another drag of her cigarette before flicking it into the parking lot. "Second, I ain't the Slayer so it ain't like I'm the one they're all fawning over."

"I don't think Giles actually 'fawns'," Xander points out. Faith just shrugs.

"Whatever. My point is I don't gotta be there every fuckin' day and if they have a problem with it then they can fuck off."

"You're pleasant today," Xander says dryly.

"Is what it is," Faith says before picking herself up off the ground. Xander follows suit and she opens the door to her motel room, walking in before flopping down on the bed.

Xander closes the door behind him and tells her, "Buffy's pissed too."

"Buffy can eat my ass."

A weird look crosses Xander's face and he responds, "I don't know whether that's a hot visual or a really gross one." Faith laughs as Xander comes over to sit next to her on the bed, throwing his book bag on to the floor.

"Visual wise it's fuckin' hot; rimmin' is the new pussy eatin'." Even though she's pissed at Buffy, that visual pops up into her head; Buffy all bent over, leg's spread and fuckin' drippin' while Faith's got her tongue in her ass. Yeah, that's fuckin' hot right there.

"Too much information."

"No such thing," Faith says with a little smirk as she leans over and grabs her remote off the bedside table. She situates herself on her stomach, legs in the air while she starts flipping through channels.

Xander kicks back and grabs the remote from her in one smooth swipe. Faith gets an indignant look, "Hey! My fuckin' house, here."

"Charmed is on," he explains, flipping through the channels. She raises her eyebrows in disbelief.

"And you wonder why ya haven't gotten laid yet."

Xander scoffs, "Whatever, Ms. I-can-carry-on-a-three-hour-conversation-about-the-Daleks. You're just as much of a loser as I am."

He's been on her ass about that ever since he discovered she figured out a way to steal cable just so she can get BBC America. He thinks it's fuckin' hilarious for some reason.

Faith makes a swipe for the remote but Xander gets off the bed and stands up, holding it away from her with an amused look as he keeps one eye on the TV. Faith narrows her eyes at him, "Okay, first of all, I get laid. Second, Doctor Who is fuckin' cool; you just hate on it cause ya don't understand the awesome. Charmed, though? For twelve year old girls with bad acne, seriously dude. Third, I'm so gonna drop you on your fuckin' ass if ya don't hand that over in the next five seconds." She holds out her hand expectantly.

Xander cocks an eyebrow at her, both amused but wary of her threat. His eyes flicker to the TV and then back to her before asking, "Compromise?"

She looks at him suspiciously, "To what?"

"X-Men is on; just passed the channel," he answers. Faith doesn't have to think about that too long before she finds that an acceptable trade.

"S'Fine," she says, then points to her dresser. "Get the chips; I stuffed them in the top drawer."

"Next to your underwear?" Xander asks, making a face.

"They're fuckin' clean," Faith protests, then points to the drawer more erratically, not wanting to get up. "Come on, starved here." Xander rolls his eyes and walks over to the grab the chips. He throws her the bag and she catches it easily, opening it up and starting to scarf down Doritos. She holds the bag out to him in offering and he takes some just as he switches the channel to the movie.

Xander settles back with some chips and they watch the movie together in silence for a little while before he mentions, "Will wants to go to The Bronze tonight."

Faith looks over at him in surprise, "Red's advocating fun now?"

"She wants to show Kennedy the place," he answers before giving her back the bag of chips. "Are you going to come?"

Faith makes a face. Normally yeah, but Buffy's probably gonna be there and she'd rather avoid that whole situation. "Dunno," she answers noncommittally before turning her eyes back to the television. He looks at her surprised.

"Do you have a fever? You never say 'I don't know' to a night out."

"Just dunno if I feel like it," she answers, a bit of a snap in her voice. She doesn't wanna fuckin' talk about it.

"Alright, alright. I just figured you'd like the opportunity to put the moves on Kennedy," he says with a little smirk. She turns to look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Ya think so?" she asks a bit challengingly.

"I saw you with her in the library," is all he answers. She's about to tell him that he didn't see jack shit, but he knows her too well; besides that, he's seen her pick up enough women to recognize the signs. But she doesn't want to deal with women anymore; all they are is one big fuckin' headache.

"Nah, fuck that," she tells him. She grabs the chips and stuffs a couple in her mouth before she tells him, "Thinkin' of goin' straight."

Men should be easier, right? They think with their dicks anyway; jump on, get off, out the door. No fuckin' attachments and a pleading 'will you call me?' with puppy dog eyes. Fuck all of that.

Xander laughs so hard he chokes and she shoots him a glare. He coughs a bit, trying to breathe correctly, then looks at her face. His eyes go wide in surprise, "Wait, you're serious?"

"Why the fuck wouldn't I be?"

"Um, because you're a lesbian, Faith," he points out.

"Who fuckin' says?" she counters; ain't like it's written in stone or anything.

"You and every woman you've ever slept with."

Faith just rolls her eyes, turning back to the TV. She can feel Xander's eyes on her for a moment before he asks, "Is this about Buffy?"

Fuck. Why'd he gotta go there?

She sits up, turning to look at him annoyed. "Why the fuck does everything gotta do with B?" she asks, defensive.

"Because everything has got to do with her recently," he tells her and looks at her pointedly like she should know better than to argue. She doesn't, of course.

"Fuck that bitch, man. No pussy is worth thinkin' about longer than it takes to get off."

"Have I mentioned how charming you are recently?"

Faith flips him off and turns back to the television.

"No, seriously Faith, what happened?" he asks, doing the caring friend thing that she really doesn't wanna deal with cause she ain't the share and care type. "I know you bailed on training because of her."

"Oh yeah, and how do you know that?" Faith counters without looking at him in a mocking 'know it all' tone.

"Because once Buffy realized you weren't coming back she kind of threw a Slayer sized fit," he tells her. "She started yelling how no matter what you two do it'll never be normal between you guys and that Giles should just start training you separately. Then she stormed out."

"Well that's her beef, not mine," Faith avoids.

"Well her problem seems to be with you so I just thought—"

But Faith's starting to get annoyed with all the questions and rounds on him, getting in his face. "You know what I 'just think', Xander?" she counters, irritated and defensive all to hell now. "I think you should mind your own fuckin' business."

"Hey," he says, holding up his hands in surrender. "Okay, I came here to have fun, not to fight, so this is me backing off right now; cease fire."

But Faith's still annoyed like hell, her blood coursing through her just like it does every time Buffy's mentioned. It's not exactly a good or bad feeling, but it makes her feel more… restless. She's agitated, that much is obvious, and in a desperate attempt to change the subject a little more permanently, she gives Xander this look that she can already tell freaks him out by how wide his eyes go. She licks her bottom lip a little and asks, leaning closer, "Ya wanna have fun? Cause I got a better way to do it."

If she's going to try to be straight, might as well start with the one guy she knows won't fuck her over.

"U-Uh, um…" he stutters, not being able to vocalize a full sentence to save his life. He looks like he can't seem to comprehend this sudden change in mood.

Faith's hand trails up his chest, watching in amusement at how terrified he looks. "So what do ya say, Xand?" she asks, though obviously rhetorically because she pushes his torso down with one hand so that he's lying on the bed. As she crawls on top of him she asks, "Ready to lose your virginity?"

"Um, Faith… I-I don't think—"

"Don't think," she chastises, amused. She bites her lower lip and runs her hand down his chest until she cups his rapidly hardening dick in her hand through his pants. "Feel," she corrects in a low, sexy voice as her lips curl into a smirk.

"HANDS!" Xander exclaims, apparently now bringing his brain into this situation. "Hands in bad places!" he squeaks, pushing her off of him and scrambling up, looking a bit freaked out because Faith just grabbed his dick.

Though if Faith is to be honest, grabbing his dick was a little weird. Now she keeps picturing the Trix rabbit in her head pointing at her and saying, "Silly lesbian; dicks are for straight chicks!"

She's always hated Trix.

She just huffs in annoyance though and turns away from him, grabbing the chips again like nothing happened. "Fine; your loss."

Xander's still staring at her like he can't believe what just happened. Faith's feeling a little weird about it too, but decides focusing on the TV would make things less awkward. She isn't exactly one hundred percent sure why she just did that; maybe just to try out something new, or maybe just to shut him up about Buffy. Either way, it didn't work.

"You… obviously need to settle things with Buffy," he tells her, looking at her like he's not sure who's in front of him anymore.

"Why the fuck do you think she's gotta do with anything?" Faith snaps.

"Because you're acting psycho!" he exclaims. "Faith, you tried to…" his eyes go wide but he doesn't finish that thought.

"Well sorry I tried to pop your cherry, Xand. For fuck's sake, I was tryin' to do ya a favor," Faith retorts.

"That right there wasn't about me and you know it," Xander tells her. Faith just arches an eyebrow at him and he goes on, "Now are you going to tell me what happened?"

Faith just folds her arms across her chest and says, "Nothin' to tell."

Xander scoffs, "Yeah, right."

"What the fuck do ya want me to say?!" Faith exclaims, getting fed up since Xander obviously isn't going to drop this. "I'm just pissed at her, alight?!"

"Why?"

"Cause she fuckin'…! Jesus, that stupid ass dance…"

"You asked her to Homecoming?" Xander asks, looking surprised.

"No! She fuckin' asked me!" Faith yells, picking up the bag of chips and throwing them across the room just so she can have something to take her rage out on. Chips scatter across the floor.

Xander looks at the chips on the floor and then turns to her, confused. "You're mad because she asked you?"

"No! I'm fuckin' pissed that she asked me and I said yes!"

"Wait so… you and Buffy are going to go to Homecoming together? Like as in a date; a real one?" he asks, shocked.

"No."

"Okay, now I'm confused."

"Ya think? Welcome to my fuckin' world," Faith says bitterly. "Bitch apparently decided that after I actually decide to give a shit about her that we shouldn't go cause it'd 'complicate things'," she mocks. "Like the crap between us is gonna get less complicated by that load of bullshit."

Xander looks at her for a moment before crossing over to sit next to her on the bed again, apparently deciding its safe again to be near her. Faith just scowls and picks at the bed sheets, really hating that she just admitted all that. "So let me get this straight," he starts. "You… actually said yes to a real date?"

"No, not really. I don't fuckin' know. She said it'd be casual, just that we'd be going together. I don't know why I said yes; I plead temporary insanity."

"Well I can testify to that," Xander says with an amused smile, trying to turn the whole awkward dick grabbing moment into something laughable. Faith smirks along with him.

"I'll have my lawyer call ya as the first witness."

"See? I'm good for something," Xander says with a laugh.

"You'd be good for a lot if you cleaned up the chips on my floor," Faith says with a smirk as she looks at the mess.

"What do I look like; your maid? You're the one that threw them."

"Whatever. I'll just vacuum the shit later," Faith says. She lets out a sigh and rolls on her stomach, laying her head on her forearms as she focuses her attention back on the TV. At least she's already seen it, so she knows what's going on.

Then the phone rings. Faith groans.

"God, what the hell?" she grumbles as she sits up.

"It's probably Willow, checking to see if you're coming with us tonight," Xander says, then pause; "you are coming, right?"

"Said I dunno," Faith answers before reaching over for her phone. She picks it up and puts it to her ear, "What?"

"Is that seriously how you answer the phone?"

"Buffy?" Faith asks, surprised. Xander's eyebrows shoot into his hairline and both of them just look at each other.

"Hi."

"Uh… hi," Faith says, still not really comprehending the fact that Buffy just called her, mainly because she doesn't understand why she would. Xander gets up and points to the door, indicating he's going to leave to give her some privacy. Faith nods her head at him and he waves before he slips out quietly. "What's up?" she asks.

"I just… wanted to see if everything was okay. You didn't come back to train," Buffy starts, sounding a little nervous.

"Just didn't feel like it," Faith avoids.

"Oh," Buffy says, though Faith can't tell if she sounds disappointed or relieved. "That's… it?"

"Pretty much."

"So it had nothing to do with what happened in the bathroom?" Buffy asks, just to clarify matters.

"Don't really give a shit what happened in the bathroom, B."

"You don't? Yes you do," Buffy quickly revises, firm. She sighs. "Faith, don't be like this. Can't we be mature?"

"Fuckin' more mature than you and got the rack to prove it," Faith snaps, irritated. What right does she have to get on her high horse and start requesting maturity?

Faith could just picture Buffy rolling her eyes. "Yeah, because your freakishly adult looking body was what I was actually referring to, obviously," she says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I meant mentally mature, Faith. You might have the body of a twenty five year old but your mind definitely hasn't caught up."

"Does this conversation have a point or should I just tell ya to fuck off now?"

Buffy sighs, willing herself to have patience. There's silence for a long moment and Faith thinks she hung up until she says, "I just… wanted to know if you were coming to The Bronze tonight."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I want us to be friends, Faith!" Buffy exclaims, exasperated. "And obviously it's not working out as well as either of us expected but we need to try."

"Why is that, exactly?" Faith asks, knowing she's being stubborn.

"We've had this conversation already," Buffy reminds her. "Remember? In Giles' office."

Faith sighs, leaning back against the headboard of her bed and pulling her knees up. She flicks the phone cord absentmindedly before admitting, "Yeah."

"Look, Faith. I'm sorry about… the bathroom," Buffy tells her quietly. "I shouldn't have done that because all it did was make things worse. It's just… sometimes I look at you and I—"

"Find I'm irresistible?" Faith teases with a smirk.

"No, shut up," Buffy says, laughing a little softly. "What I was going to say was that I guess I just forget that it's never going to work. So I'm… I'm sorry I did that."

"S'Cool, B. Ain't complainin'. Your tongue down my throat ain't the worst thing in the world, trust me."

There's a pause and Faith knows she just made Buffy blush so her smirk widens. "So… we're okay?" Buffy asks finally.

"Yeah, I guess."

For a moment Faith thinks Buffy's going to try to dissect the 'I guess' part of that sentence, but thankfully she just lets it go for once. "So are you going to come tonight?"

"Yeah, might as well," Faith says shrugging, "Always in the mood to dance and make some trouble."

"Good," Buffy says, and Faith can hear the smile in her voice. "Well, I mean good to the dancing, not the making trouble part. Um, so… I'll see you later?"

"Looks like."

"Great! That's… good. With the goodness and… I'm just going to go now," Buffy says, sounding a little embarrassed. "I'll see you in a couple hours."

"K, later."

"Bye."

Faith hangs up the phone, and then slides to lay down on her bed and sighs, looking at the ceiling. Why is it that Buffy can change her mind so quickly? She really was furiously pissed at her twenty minutes ago. God damnit. Well, one night of Bronzin' won't kill her.

But being 'just friends' with Buffy… that just might.

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