invalid_reality. Dusk

Dusk

Chapter 1: Chapter One

Author's Notes: I felt I needed an outlet of sorts for the smut that just keeps on dancing around in my head, completely torturing me seeing how Resolute has the whole slow burn thing going for it right now...not sure how often I'll write for this one, but I do hope you enjoy the read. PWP with an actual plot, who knew!

The muffled scream rippled through the quiet of the cemetery, barely audible to the likes of any unsuspecting passerby's. The secluded spot behind one of the small mausoleums near the far back corner of the large cemetery had been their spot since the night their little secret affair had started. But they weren't there tonight. Tonight they were sitting on Faith's Harley so carefully parked behind a small row of bushes.

It had been a slow night for patrol and it was also the first night in over a week they'd managed to go out alone. It wasn't even five minutes after they'd been in the cemetery before Buffy had Faith in the palm of her hand, literally. It always started out with Buffy making the first move, Buffy taking that first step and kissing her as she nearly ripped off the button on her jeans as she anxiously slid her hand inside. Tonight had been no different and Faith was the last one to complain. She'd been so worked up all week, avoiding Buffy every chance she got out of fear she wouldn't be able to keep her hands or her lips to herself.

"Fuck," Faith moaned into Buffy's mouth as Buffy slid her rather skilful fingers over Faith's throbbing clit.

There wasn't much room to move on the bike and with Faith's jeans already off and on the ground and her black panties dangling off her right foot, it burned every time she moved against the leather seat. She leaned back as she watched Buffy. Her eyes were dark and even in the subtle light of the half moon she could see the pure desire in the darkness of her eyes. She wanted to touch her, she wanted to rip off her clothes and make her feel the pleasurable torture too, but she knew her place. She knew she couldn't until later.

"Faith," Buffy whispered breathlessly as she leaned forward and gently licked the side of her neck just below her ear. "Tell me you want it. Tell me you want my fingers inside of you and making you feel the way no one else can. Tell me."

"Buffy..."

"Tell me," she whispered harshly as she bit down on the soft skin of Faith's neck. "Tell me, Faith."

Faith groaned, feeling helpless under the lustful and needy spell Buffy always seemed to have her under. At the beginning of their secret little affair it had shocked her at the way Buffy instantly took control. In any other situation, Faith had been the one in control, Faith had always been the one to lead things and set the pace. It was different with Buffy and she just couldn't get enough. The way Buffy would change as soon as they were alone, the way she would just take her in every way, the way she'd make her beg for more never failed to amaze her or turn her on profoundly.

"I want your fingers inside of me."

Buffy was never gentle with her, not until they were in Faith's apartment where it went from just fucking to something more. Something Faith didn't want to think about. Not now. Not ever. All they had was what it was, they fucked and they satisfied the urges only the other could satisfy. Being with Buffy was on a whole new level for Faith. Ever since their affair had started she hadn't felt the need or the urge to find someone else. Nobody ever came close to making her feel the way Buffy could.

Buffy pulled her closer as her fingers continued to dance and circle over her clit, teasing her and not yet giving her what she wanted. She groaned as Buffy crushed her lips against hers, kissing her deeply as she slipped a solitary finger ever so gently and slowly inside of her. The sudden gentleness made Faith pull back a little, but Buffy wasn't having none of it as she slipped a second finger roughly inside of her.

Faith was close, she was always so close and she always came fast and hard whenever Buffy took her like this. She tried to hold back her moan as Buffy lifted her left leg up and over her own, driving her fingers harder and deeper inside of her as the first waves of her orgasm rumbled through her body. She struggled to keep her emotions in check. She knew every time she was so close that everything she felt, everything she told herself she didn't feel for Buffy, showed and revealed itself to her. It was in moments like this when she felt vulnerable, weak and not quite like herself or the Faith that Buffy and everyone else knew.

It was probably why Buffy never looked at her when she came, never kissed her. She would just let her ride it out then would abruptly remove her fingers and walk away, waiting until Faith was fully dressed again before she'd look at her again. It was different in the confines of Faith's apartment, but out there in the open, Buffy always seemed so far gone, so feral and wild with passion and the need to dominate took over completely.

Faith watched her carefully as Buffy climbed off the bike and turned her back on her. She sighed softly as she stood up and slowly pulled her panties on and bent down to pick up her jeans. The ache between her legs told her she hadn't had enough and she knew even with Buffy's back turned to her, that Buffy hadn't had enough either. At least not for tonight. She pulled on her jeans and found her boots lying next to her bike. She never took her eyes off of Buffy and when Buffy finally turned to look at her, all she could do was smile over at her.

"You wanna motor?"

"Now?"

"It's dead out here, B. What's the worst that can happen if we duck out early and go back to mine?"

Buffy sighed as she walked back over to Faith and trailed her fingers over the leather seat. "I'm sure it wouldn't kill us to at least stay out here for awhile longer. Just in case."

Faith rolled her eyes as she climbed on her bike, wincing slightly at the rough ache between her legs. "I'm sure it wouldn't, but I don't wanna take any chances. Let's go."

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Nah," Faith shrugged as Buffy climbed on the bike and slipped her arms around her waist. "You never hurt me, B."

Buffy kissed the side of her neck as she moved her hand to cup Faith over her jeans. "Are you sure?"

Faith nodded and suppressed a moan as Buffy rubbed her hard, the seam of her jeans digging into her already tender clit. "Keep that up, B, and we won't get back to mine in one piece."

Buffy reluctantly removed her hand as Faith brought the Harley roaring to life. She sped out of the cemetery and headed to her apartment a couple blocks away. Faith could feel her whole body heating up as she pulled into her parking spot and turned the bike off. Buffy's demeanour had changed. She grew shy almost as Faith reached for her hand and led her inside the building through the back door. It was always like this and the roles were reversed as soon as they were inside Faith's apartment. The dominating side of Buffy always disappeared within the safe confines of Faith's apartment and over the last year Faith had been trying to figure out just why that was.

Faith took the stairs, two at a time with Buffy close behind. She barely even breathed as she reached the fourth floor and flung open the stairwell door. Faith barely had her keys out of her pocket before she felt Buffy tenderly running her hands over her back and her arms. She was anxious, just as much as Faith was, to get inside. Faith leaned into Buffy's touch, smiling as she unlocked the door and spun around. She grabbed onto her and kissed her deeply as she backed them inside the apartment.

As soon as the door had clicked shut, Buffy leaped onto Faith and wrapped her legs around her waist and kissed her deeper as Faith flicked on the lights and slowly made her way to the bedroom. Faith managed to kick off her boots before she reached her bedroom door and she groaned into Buffy's mouth as Buffy began to pull at her shirt. She let her down to her feet and let her pull off her shirt. She pulled her back in close as she backed them into the bedroom, her eyes staring intensely into Buffy's as she quickly pulled off Buffy's shirt and began unbuttoning her jeans.

Faith's heart was racing as she gently laid Buffy on the bed, trying hard not to just tear her jeans off in one swift motion. They always took it slow when they where there. It wasn't just about fucking and scratching each other's itch. It was something so much more. Almost as if it meant something to both of them. Faith sighed as she lowered herself on top of Buffy, smiling as she reached up and casually brushed aside a stray hair that had fallen over her eyes. So many times in moments like this Buffy looked absolutely beautiful and she wanted to tell her that, but she knew that was overstepping the unspoken boundaries between them.

Faith lightly kissed her, smiling as she trailed her lips over Buffy's jaw and down her neck. She could spend hours just kissing her, nipping playfully at the sensitive spots on her neck, but the undeniable need that Buffy had for more was just too much for either of them to ignore for very long. Faith moved from her neck, trailing the tip of her tongue over her collarbone and blazing a path down to Buffy's breasts. The hand on the back of her head told her not to take it slow tonight and after teasing and nipping at each one she moved between her legs and licked her way down Buffy's flat, taunt stomach.

"Faith..." she breathed out as she closed her eyes and arched her back slightly.

She smiled against Buffy's skin, breathing in the intoxicating sweet scent of her before she moved lower and slowly spread her legs. Faith ran the tips of her fingers over Buffy's glistening pussy, groaning at how wet she was for her. She glanced up at Buffy as she licked the insides of her thighs, nipping at the soft skin as her fingers danced teasingly over her clit.

"Faith, please...no more teasing..."

"You can dish it out, but you can't take it, B?" Faith asked playfully as she nipped at her skin a little harder. "See, now that's not playing fair, B."

"God, Faith...I can't..."

She removed her fingers from Buffy's throbbing clit and ran the tip of her tongue over it, eliciting a moan from Buffy that turned her on beyond belief. Buffy's fingers dug into her skull as she pulled her closer. Faith breathed in deeply as she sucked on her clit a little too hard. Buffy nearly screamed out in pleasure, her hips bucking up and Faith gripped onto her hips to keep her from moving too much. She'd barely gotten started on her and Buffy was already coming hard. They both knew a week without each other was far too long and they'd never gone a week without before.

"B," Faith whispered as she trailed her lips over Buffy's thighs and slowly worked her way back up to her lips. "Someone was a little worked up, huh?"

"Hmm," Buffy smiled as she pulled Faith in for a deep, passionate kiss. "And I think someone has a few too many clothes on right now."

Faith laughed as she lifted off of Buffy a little and looked down in between them. "Well, that someone definitely isn't you."

"Shut up and take your clothes off now, Faith."

"Make me," she growled as she let Buffy flip them over. "Feeling a little feisty tonight, B?"

"Maybe," she grinned as she leaned down and gently bit on Faith's lower lip before she pulled back and fumbled with her jeans.

Faith lifted up as Buffy slowly yet roughly pulled her jeans off. Even after a year, Buffy still acted slightly intimidated at the prospect of returning the favour. It never failed to melt Faith's heart, just a little, whenever she caught her blushing as she let her eyes drink in her naked form. She reached for Buffy's hand and pulled her back up, kissing her lightly as Buffy lowered her body onto hers. They both moaned as Buffy slowly began to grind her pussy against Faith's, squirming slightly as Faith grabbed onto her ass and pushed her against her harder.

Buffy let out a giggle as Faith flipped them over and gripped onto the backs of her thighs as she spread her legs open more for her. She tried to keep it slow, passionate, as she stared deeply into Buffy's eyes for a moment. This was one of those moments where everything Buffy felt was on display, just as it was for Faith. This was one of those moments where Faith usually was on the brink of panicking at the thought of it meaning so much more than what it really meant for them.

"Buffy..." Faith groaned as she raised a hand a gently cupped her cheek. "I'm gonna...so fucking close..."

"Right there with you, baby."

Faith raised an eyebrow at her. She'd never called her baby before. She slowed her thrusts until she'd nearly stopped completely as she stared down at Buffy, trying to catch her eyes. "Baby? That's new."

"It just slipped..." Buffy said softly as she trailed off and turned her head to the side so Faith couldn't look at her. "I don't know why. Heat of the moment and all. These things tend to happen."

"But `baby'?"

"Shut up and fuck me, Faith. You're ruining the moment."

"I kind of liked it," Faith whispered as she trailed loving kisses over her jaw, stopping when she reached her lips. "You can call me baby if you want to, B. It's kind of cute."

Buffy playfully slapped her arm as she rose her hips into Faith's, groaning as she finally turned to look up at her. She looked as if she wanted to say something more and instead she pulled Faith in for a kiss. It was hungry yet sloppy as they both moaned and writhed against each other. Faith kissed her deeper, trying so hard not to scream out in ecstasy her love she felt in that moment for her. The L word scared her, the thoughts alone scared her and she knew that now was definitely not the right time to be thinking about anything other than making Buffy come with her.

They lay there afterwards, just holding onto one another as they came down from the high of having such an intense orgasm. Every time it got better, more intense and every time Faith would find herself looking deeply into Buffy's eyes, searching out if there was more to it all. Some nights she wished there was, she wished there was more to it than just what they had. She didn't mind keeping it a secret affair, she didn't mind the intensity of it all, but there were just those small, rare moments when she wanted something more with Buffy.

"What are you thinking about?" Buffy asked softly as she stroked Faith's hair. "Faith?"

"Nothing, B. Just basking here."

"You want to know what I was just thinking about?"

"What?"

"How amazing it is every time we're together. Every time it's just..."

"Intense."

"Yes," Buffy laughed as Faith lifted her head off her chest to look at her. "Intense could sum it up. Nobody has ever been able to make me feel the way you do."

"Bet nobody could have kept up with you all night long either."

Buffy shook her head as she smiled at Faith. "No, definitely never have found anyone who could keep up with me, especially not all night long."

With a gentle nudge, Buffy rolled Faith onto her back and began kissing her way down her neck and over her breasts. With every rise and fall of Faith's chest, she licked at her sensitive nipples as she trailed her right hand down her stomach. Buffy was holding back, Faith could feel it in the way she would sweep her tongue over her breasts and her rock hard nipples. She ran her hand over Buffy's that rested lightly on her stomach and waited until Buffy lifted her head and their eyes met. Faith only smiled at her, smiled not smirked like she normally did, and gently eased Buffy's hand lower, encouraging her to continue.

In the cemetery, Buffy always took her roughly, quickly, without a second thought, but there in the bedroom everything was different. It changed somehow and no matter how many times Faith had tried to figure it out, her answers came up the same. It meant something more, it had to, and she could feel it coming off in waves as Buffy's body slid down her own. Faith bit her lip as she watched Buffy spread her legs and place a tentative kiss just above her clit. She was teasing, like she always did, and Faith could hardly take any more of it. Her body was screaming out in frustration, screaming out with need and she moaned softly as Buffy deftly slid her fingers over her achingly hot and wet pussy.

Their eyes met once more before Buffy visibly lost her sudden shyness and slid her tongue rather roughly into Faith's hot, tight core. Faith threw her head back as she closed her eyes, her hands instantly finding their way to the back of Buffy's head. She ever so gently encouraged her, silently begging her for more as she involuntary raised her hips with every deep, penetrating thrust of Buffy's tongue in her cunt.

"Oh fuck, B..."

Buffy moaned as she drove her tongue deeper inside of her, thoroughly enjoying her ministrations and her relentless assault of her tongue deep inside Faith's pussy. Her body began to shudder as Buffy moved a hand and pinched her clit roughly, bringing her closer to the edge. She could feel her pussy clench around Buffy's tongue as the room around her began to spin and her flesh grew hot. She moved her hands from the back of Buffy's head and gripped the sheets next to her, nearly ripping them as her orgasm coursed through her body as if her blood was on fire. Buffy didn't let up, not even when Faith's body went limp.

"God, B..."

"Hmm, I'm not done with you, baby."

Faith grinned as she opened her eyes and looked down at her. She never tired of the image of Buffy between her legs eating her out until she came hard. There was just something so erotic about seeing Buffy like this and just the thought alone nearly brought her to the brink of her second orgasm. A year ago Faith would have never thought that one night, one kiss, one touch would have changed the nature of their relationship. It was one of those things she knew she'd never go back and change. Buffy had been the one who initiated it, Buffy had been the one who wanted to continue it past that night and Faith being immensely attracted to her, she wasn't about to say no.

Buffy was gentler this time, using her tongue to circle over Faith's throbbing clit, sending waves of pleasurable torture shooting through her body. She gasped and groaned as Buffy slid two fingers inside of her slowly and began to kiss her way up her body, her fingers thrusting in and out ever so slowly as their lips met in a fiery passionate kiss. Faith let go of the sheets and ran her fingers up and down Buffy's back. The shivers reverberated through Buffy's body and she groaned into Faith's mouth as she hesitantly slid a third finger inside of her.

Faith rolled them over as she slid her hand a little too roughly between them. Buffy groaned and her fingers slowed a little as Faith eased her own fingers over Buffy's overly sensitive clit. Their hands brushed against each others as Faith slowly slid her middle finger inside of Buffy, savouring the moment as she opened her eyes, broke away from the kiss and watched her as her passion and desire flooded and shone in her darkened eyes. Buffy's pussy clenched tightly around Faith's finger and with her free hand she gripped onto the back of Faith's neck and forcefully pulled her down for a deep, passionate kiss.

Their tongues danced and fought for dominance, creating a rhythm that matched the beating of their hearts and the slow subtle thrusts of their fingers deep inside one another. Just as they were about to reach their peak, Buffy's cell phone began chirping from the pocket of her jeans that were lying at the foot of the bed. Faith groaned into her mouth as she tried to hold her down and keep her there.

"Don't," Faith urged as Buffy tried to get out from underneath her.

"I have to answer it."

"Don't, B...fuck..." Faith groaned as she struggled to keep her where she was. "Leave it."

"I can't," she said softly as she slipped off the bed and picked up her jeans and yanked her phone out of the pocket. She walked out of the bedroom as she answered it, laughing as she closed the door behind her.

"Fuck," Faith muttered as she laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling. "Every god damn time."

She listened as Buffy chattered away on her phone and from the sounds of it, it was Willow. She shook her head at the lies she heard Buffy telling Willow, lies she should have been used to by now, lies that tore through her heart even though she knew it should affect her that way.

They were just fucking. Friends with benefits. There to scratch each other's itch each and every night. That's all it was. Over and over in her head Faith had to remind herself of that. She crawled out of bed and found some clean, comfortable clothes. She scooped up Buffy's discarded clothes and headed out of the bedroom, finding her standing in the kitchen by the fridge, searching for something to eat while she still talked to Willow animatedly. Faith nearly threw her clothes at her, ignoring the look on Buffy's face as she reached into the fridge and pulled out a cold bottle of beer.

Her whole body was still charged, still aching for more and she ignored it as she grabbed her smokes and headed out onto the balcony. The night had grown cooler, the air slightly damp and she grumbled under her breath as she sat on the plastic chair and propped her feet up on the railing.

"I'm going to head out, Faith," Buffy said softly as she opened the glass sliding door and stepped out onto the balcony, fully dressed and her hair now pulled back into a messy, loose ponytail. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Whatever, B."

"Faith, don't be like this. Don act like I just told you I killed your puppy by accident."

"Go, B. Whatever. I don't fucking care anymore."

"Faith," Buffy sighed as she knelt down next to her and gently kissed her on the cheek. "If things could be different..."

"But they're not."

"You're right," she responded with a frown as she stood up. "They're not going to be either. That wasn't part of the agreement, was it, Faith?"

Faith shook her off, lighting a cigarette and inhaled deeply. She winced as she heard Buffy leave, slamming the apartment door loudly behind her that was surely bound to wake up her neighbours. She was in so deep she knew she was fucked if she allowed her feelings to meddle into what had been a good thing for the past year.

"Jesus fucking christ! I never asked to fall in love. I'm fucking Faith Lehane. I don't fucking fall in love!"

Chapter 2: Chapter Two

Author's Notes:

Faith woke up from her deep and peaceful slumber, her head throbbing from the inevitable hangover and her body aching from sleeping awkwardly on the couch in her living room. With one eye barely open, she glanced at the clock on the stove in the kitchen and groaned as she pulled the pillow over her head. Seven in the morning was definitely much too early for her to be awake. She barely even flinched when she heard the door unlock.

"Faith?" Buffy said softly as she nudged her a little. "Come on, you need to get up."

"Too fucking early, B. Come back in a couple hours."

Buffy sighed as she straddled her waist and wrestled the pillow still over her head away from her. Faith gave in and let her take the pillow away and she struggled to open her eyes, smiling a little as Buffy leaned in to kiss her. She kissed her back for a moment then pulled away, her eyes searching Buffy's intensely as she struggled to figure out why she was there so early. Never had she come to her during the day. The agreement was just during and after patrol, never any other time. Usually.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Buffy asked softly as she ran her fingers over the hem of Faith's shirt. "We never got to finish last night."

"I thought you were pissed at me."

"I was."

Faith raked her fingernails over Buffy's jean clad thighs slowly as she sat up and lifted Buffy off of her. "I need coffee."

She glanced at Buffy for a moment before she walked into the kitchen and began to make a pot of coffee. She sighed as she found herself continuously looking back into the living room at Buffy sitting on the couch. It was much too early for her to start thinking of why the hell Buffy showed up so early in the morning. In the year they'd had their little agreement Buffy had never done anything like this before. Then again, Faith knew she should have known by now to expect the unexpected from her.

Buffy's hands slipping over her hips made her lose her train of thought. She groaned softly as she gripped onto the counter and let Buffy slowly unbutton her jeans. She melted into her touch as Buffy slipped her soft, warm hands over her stomach, trailing her fingertips ever so softly over her jutting hipbones before she slipped a hand inside the front of her jeans.

"B..."

Buffy turned her around and silenced her with a searing kiss as she dipped her fingers lower. Faith didn't have the energy to stop her. She couldn't even if she did. No matter what she was always in the palm of Buffy's hand and wrapped around her fingers. What Buffy wanted, she gave in and gave to her willingly. She kept her hands gripping the counter behind her, not knowing whether it was okay to touch her. It felt like it did in the cemetery, where Buffy took complete control. The yearning to pull Buffy into her, to kiss her deeper and to rip off her clothes made her heart race and her knees grow weak.

"I told Will last night not to call while I'm on patrol anymore," Buffy whispered as she began to trail feather-light kisses down her neck. "She wanted to know why, but...you know."

"Yeah," Faith breathed out breathlessly as Buffy slid her jeans off and began pulling her shirt off. "Shouldn't we uh...take this to the bedroom?"

Buffy stopped and looked up at her, thinking for a moment before she began tugging on Faith's hand, leading her out of the kitchen but not to the bedroom. She pushed her back on the couch and with a sexy little grin she stripped out of her own clothes and straddled her, kissing her deeply as she reached for her hands and placed them on her back. It was all Faith needed and she arched up into her, needing to feel more, needing to take a little bit of control.

There was one thing that was beginning to scare her as they just lay there together, kissing deeply, hands clinging, bodies pressed up tight. It was never slow with them, ever. Before Faith had a chance to dwell on that thought though, Buffy slipped a hand between them and didn't hesitate as she roughly slid two fingers deep inside her hot, waiting core. Faith moaned as she broke away from the kiss, her fingernails digging into Buffy's shoulders as she tried to control the gasping breaths and her hips that thrust up with every deep plunge of Buffy's slender, talented fingers.

Faith let her legs fall open more as she kept her eyes fixed on Buffy's. The intensity of the way Buffy stared back at her made her heart quicken, her breath still and she sighed ever so softly as Buffy slowed her fingers and gently eased them out. She rubbed her clit, her fingers slipping effortlessly as she leaned in to kiss her deeply. Faith's whole body was charged, tense and needing and she slipped her own hand between them, finding Buffy just as wet and waiting for her touch. She stopped as she pulled away from the kiss, taking Buffy's hand in hers and pulling it away from her.

"Buffy...fuck..."

Buffy sighed contently as she pressed her pussy hard against Faith's, creating delicious friction between them with each slow, gradual thrust. Faith kept a hold of Buffy's hand, their fingers entwined tightly as she quickened the thrusts just a little. She moved her other hand down to the swell of Buffy's pert ass, squeezing gently as she pushed her down harder. Their eyes locked for the longest moment and what Faith saw wash over in Buffy's eyes nearly made her stop. The lust was there, the desire was there, but there was something else. Something so much more than she was prepared to see, to feel.

Realizing they weren't just fucking, they were making love, Faith let the panic pass and she embraced the moment, relished in it, and held Buffy closer to her. She no longer felt the pain of her hangover as the first waves of her orgasm began to flood through her body. She bit down on her lower lip, feeling the urge to profess her love for Buffy, to scream it out into the room right there on the tip of her tongue.

Buffy moaned as she laid her forehead against Faith's, her hips still grinding slowly against hers. A thin sheen of sweat coated their bodies as they reached orgasm slowly and came hard and fast together. Buffy gripped onto Faith's hand still holding onto hers as her whole body tensed and shook. Faith felt a second orgasm building quickly after she felt the warm arousal seeping out from Buffy's pussy and onto her own. Buffy was spent, a rarity as she was always ready for a second and a third round immediately. Faith held onto her, feeling Buffy's heart beating rapidly against her own and shuffled her body a little as Buffy moved to lay her head on her chest. They laid there for a moment, breathing heavily as the heat from their bodies gradually began to cool down.

"Faith...I...wow," Buffy laughed softly as she raised her head from Faith's chest for a moment and lightly kissed her. "That was...different."

"Yeah. What just happened?"

"We fucked," Buffy replied as she laid her head on Faith's chest, her fingers still entwined with hers. "Didn't we?"

"I think it was more than just a fuck, B."

Faith groaned when she realized what she'd just said, but Buffy didn't respond, she just laid there and breathed in deeply. She lay there holding onto Buffy, their fingers now trailing over each other's as the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the apartment. They never really cuddled afterwards, at least not like this. But it was nice, it felt right and deep down Faith didn't want t his moment to ever end. She never realized before how much she enjoyed just being close to Buffy. She felt like everything was perfect, like she'd finally found everything she'd been searching for her whole life. It hurt, just a little, when she had a feeling Buffy didn't feel the same way about her. She was just Buffy's sex toy, there to scratch her itch whenever she felt like coming to her.

"I still need some coffee, B."

"I could use a cup myself," she whispered, not budging as she kissed the soft skin above Faith's breast. "I think I could use a shower too. We've got to be at Headquarters soon. Giles will be pissed if we're late."

Faith sighed as Buffy got off of her and plucked up her discarded clothes from the floor. She laid there and watched as Buffy disappeared into the bathroom down the short hallway and waited until she heard the water running before she got up from the couch and slowly pulled her clothes on. She made her way into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She kept it black, needing the caffeine fix to wake her up and clear her head of the thoughts currently racing through her mind.

She wasn't in love with Buffy, was she? In the year since their affair had started she hadn't felt those feelings until recently. She didn't fall in love though, not with Buffy, not with anybody. But the feelings were so strong and they made her dizzy as she picked up the empty beer bottles scattered over the apartment. Maybe she was in love with Buffy. Maybe after a year of fucking like animals almost every single night had turned lustful feelings into deeper, more meaningful ones. She laughed at herself for growing soft, for feeling the way she was.

Still, she couldn't help but stare at Buffy as she breezed out of the bathroom in only a towel, her hair wet and dripping as she made her way to the kitchen. Taking in a deep breath, Faith walked up behind her as Buffy poured herself a cup of coffee and she slipped her arms around her, breathing in deep as Buffy leaned into her touch. She took a risk as she eased the towel off of her and ran her fingers over the silky smooth and still damp skin over her stomach. Buffy's breath hitched in her chest as Faith began to lightly trail her tongue over the side of her neck, over her shoulder and slowly down her back, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.

Faith smiled as Buffy whimpered and she licked her way back up her neck and held her close as her fingers teased the skin on the insides of her thighs. The tables had turned and now Faith had Buffy in the palm of her hands, moaning softly and whimpering as she let her body language do all the begging for more. Buffy tried to turn around, to capture Faith's lips with her own, but Faith held her there as she teasingly slipped her fingers over her clit, dipping lower as she leaned in and sucked on the soft skin of her neck just below her right ear.

"Jesus..."

"You want more, B?"

"God yes," she moaned as she spread her legs a little more and arched into Faith's delicate touch.

"Think we could take a sick day?" Faith whispered into her ear as she gently and slowly slid her middle finger inside of her, teasing her still as she quickly withdrew it, waiting for Buffy's answer. "I just wanna fuck you all day."

Buffy whimpered again as she reached back and held onto Faith's head, tugging on her hair as Faith dipped her finger back inside of her. "Faith...we can't."

"Sure we can," she whispered. "A little white lie won't hurt anybody. I know you want this, I know you want to spend the day here...I know you want it as much as I do."

"This isn't part...of the agreement."

"Fuck the agreement."

"Faith wait...stop," Buffy sighed as she forced Faith's hands off of her and bent down and picked up the towel. "We can't do this. This isn't...what we agreed to...this isn't..."

Faith could see the hesitation and the fear in Buffy's eyes as she turned to look at her. "Isn't what, B?"

"We're not in a relationship," she finished and the coldness in her voice tore through Faith like a blade had been shoved through her heart. "We will never be in a relationship. All we have is what we have and that's fucking each other, scratching each other's itch. I came here this morning because...because it wasn't enough last night."

The word `liar' nearly escaped from Faith's lips, but she held it back as she let Buffy walk away. She'd let her think that, feel that, whatever. The truth had been there in her eyes in those moments when they'd been making love not that long ago. The truth that Faith was now dead set on exposing, on forcing it out of her even if it meant risking what they had together now.

The tension in the air, sexual and otherwise, grew as Faith walked out to the living room and sat on the other end of the couch. Buffy sat there, still in the towel, flipping through the channels on the TV as she sipped her coffee. Faith found herself looking over at her every once in awhile, her eyes taking in the sight before her, drinking in every drop of her which only made her libido race out of control once again. It was comfortable silence between them and Faith could feel and hear her heart racing in her chest the more her eyes lingered over Buffy, waiting for her to look back at her. But she didn't. She refused to. Her attention was solely fixed on the news station she'd finally settled on watching.

"I'm gonna go have a shower then we better motor."

"Sure," Buffy said without emotion in her voice, her eyes still on the TV in front of her.

Faith drank the rest of her coffee and placed the empty cup on the table in front of her, her eyes drifting over to Buffy once more before she got up and went to shower. Just before she turned off the water, she heard the apartment door click shut. With a heavy sigh she shook her head. No matter what kind of progress they seemed to make, Buffy always left, mostly without even saying goodbye. Sometimes, especially in moments like this, Faith just wanted her to stay. She had a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe one day things would change between them. That what they had would evolve into a relationship and not just a fuck between two friends who barely acted like they were friends around anyone else.

"Get a fucking grip, Lehane. Nothing is ever gonna change. You aren't in love with Buffy and she sure as fuck isn't in love with you," she muttered to herself and laughed as she saw the pitiful look on her face in the steamed mirror in front of her. "I'm fucking losing it."

****

Faith walked through the front doors of Slayer Headquarters, groaning as her hangover made a repeat appearance. She kept her dark sunglasses on and she made her way down the long main hallway that led straight to the training room. She ignored Giles as he said good morning to her and she went right into the locker room and flung her bag onto the bench. The room was empty and she sighed out as she slowly took off her sunglasses and opened her bag.

"You're late," Buffy said as she walked in and slowly closed the door behind her. The sound of her locking the door reverberated through the small locker room. "You're an hour and seventeen minutes late, Faith."

"I'm not in the mood to argue with you today."

"Who says I'm arguing? I'm just making a point."

"Right," Faith laughed as she stripped out of her clothes and quickly pulled on her sweat pants and loose fitted tank she always trained in. "You are always trying to make a point. So, what's the point, B?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Could've stayed at mine, B. Wouldn't have had to wait then."

"What's your point, Faith?"

"You always walk out," she blurted as she shoved her clothes into her bag. "Why?"

"That was...part of the agreement, Faith. No attachments, no strings."

Faith laughed, not amused in the least as she headed for the doors that led to the training room. She felt herself being pulled back and shoved up against the nearest row of lockers. "B, what the fuck..."

Her outburst was silenced with Buffy's lips on her own, Buffy's tongue slipping effortlessly over her own. She stopped Buffy's hands as they slipped under her shirt and she broke away from the kiss, her breathing heavy and her heart thudding loudly in her chest. Memories of the rare times Buffy had taken her there in the locker room flooded her mind and made her flesh grow hot, but she had to stop. They were both late and the girls waiting in the training room for them to get started were most likely growing restless.

"What's gotten into you, B?"

"I don't know," she whispered as she leaned into kiss her again and stopped when Faith placed a finger over her lips. "I think a week without you caught up to me. It was torture, Faith. Pure torture."

"And you think this isn't?" Faith asked, motioning between their current closeness. She leaned in closer, not to kiss her, but to whisper into her ear. "Told you we should've taken a sick day today, B. But no, you didn't listen. You never fucking do."

"I..."

Faith ignored her as she spun her around, slamming her hard against the lockers as she shoved her hand down the front of Buffy's rather tight sweatpants. "Jesus, B. You're fucking soaked. You want me to fuck you? Right here? Right now? Is that what you want?"

Buffy said nothing as she pulled Faith in for a rough, needy kiss, groaning as Faith buried her fingers inside her wet cunt, not yet entering her, but teasing her until she was just on the brink of begging for more. Faith was rough with her, not caring if she hurt her or not. Taking Buffy like this was rare and having complete control was something new entirely in their little `agreement'. She could feel her own panties grow wetter by the second as she fucked Buffy deep and hard. With a low growl, Faith stopped and roughly pulled her hands out of Buffy's pants.

"Better get going, B. Don't want anyone to come looking for us," she said with a grin as she brought her fingers to her lips and salaciously licked off Buffy's sticky sweet arousal.

"You...you can't just..."

"But I did."

Buffy stood there, flustered as she watched Faith slowly back away. "Faith..."

"What, B?"

"Why is everything changing?"

"Beats the fuck outta me. Now come on, we're already late enough as it is."

She smirked as Buffy stood there, breathing heavily and looking both confused and pissed as hell at her. She unlocked the door before walking to the other and with a nod of her head as she motioned for Buffy to follow, she walked out of the locker room and into the training room, ready to start the day's training session. Buffy wouldn't look at her as she walked out of the locker room a few minutes later and she wouldn't even come near her as Faith led the handful of girls through a series of stretches.

The hours went by quickly and when they took a break for lunch, Faith sat on a pile of mats by the window and sipped at the cold bottle of water she'd taken from the fridge in the corner. Buffy didn't stay, not like she normally would after a training session. Faith was kind of relieved. She didn't want to have to deal with her, not while she was still going over all the new thoughts and new feelings she'd been having lately. Buffy had been right about how everything was changing between them and it was all her fault. She was falling, had fallen, so deep in love with her that she wasn't thinking clearly, wasn't acting like herself.

She was just another fool in love, one in love with Buffy Summers. She hated herself for falling for her, for wanting so much more. She had to fix things, turn them back to the way they'd been before. But the feeling in the pit of her stomach that no matter what she'd tried to do, things were most definitely not going to go back to the way they'd been before, when it had all just been a fuck between two friends, two Slayers who had finally found their equal match in bed. She didn't know how to fix things, not when they'd taken such a drastic turn in less than twenty-four hours. She didn't even know if she wanted to fix things, to change them back to where it'd been.

The whole `I don't fall in love' mantra had now lost all meaning as she sat there and thought of that morning and how amazing and intense it'd felt to actually make love to Buffy and not just fuck her like she was another one of her conquests. A year of not bothering to think of where the whole agreement would lead them had changed and now Faith wanted and needed so much more from her. She needed to have it all even if Buffy wasn't ready for that, even if Buffy didn't want it. She'd make her see, she make Buffy realize that she wanted it just as much as she did.

"Faith, you coming to eat?" Kennedy called out as she poked her head into the training room. "Come on, Giles ordered pizza today and there's one in the cafeteria with your name on it."

"Coming, Ken."

"Better hurry up," she laughed as she held open the door and waited for Faith to follow her. "What's gotten into you lately?"

"Nothing."

"You sure about that?"

"I'm sure, Ken. Let's just go eat and try to steal some of the mini-Slayers' pizza."

Kennedy laughed as she punched her playfully in the shoulder. "Now that sounds like a decent plan. Oh, have you seen Buffy by any chance?"

"Yeah, she was in here awhile ago. Why?"

"Willow has been looking for her. Something about being suspicious that Buffy has been seeing someone lately and won't tell her."

Faith laughed uneasily, quickly covering it up by punching Kennedy back in the arm. "I'm sure she is seeing someone but you know B, never one to be open about her private life."

"You know who it is, don't you?" Kennedy asked her as she stopped her in the middle of the hallway and forced Faith to look at her. "Oh. My. God."

"What?"

"It's you, isn't it?" Kennedy asked, and she laughed as she threw her arms around her. "I fucking knew it."

"Fuck off, Ken. There's nothing going on between me and B. Whatever thoughts are going through your head right now is just a figment of your imagination," Faith replied and she couldn't help but feel the guilt of lying to one of her close friends slowly begin to eat up what was left of her conscience.

Chapter 3: Chapter Three

Author's Notes: Here's a bit more of a plot chapter...

Faith left Headquarters just before seven that night. She was pissed, she was worked up and her mind was going a million miles a second. Giles revised the patrol list and she had tried with all she had not to become visibly pissed off when she didn't see her name on the list for that night. It meant no patrol with Buffy, no coming back to her place afterwards. It was just going to be her and a couple bottles of beer and a very restless sleep.

All afternoon she'd tried to find Buffy and talk to her and all afternoon she found that Buffy had gone out of her way to avoid her, just like she normally did each and every day. She didn't worry about the things Kennedy had said to her. Buffy would lie her way out of any accusations Willow threw her way. She always did. She slipped off her boots and slammed the apartment door as she fumbled for the light switch, muttering under her breath as she flicked on the lights and stared blankly at her empty apartment.

"I'm fucking losing it, seriously."

"Losing what?" Buffy asked as she strolled out of the bathroom, dressed but her hair wet from the shower.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Figured since you weren't going on patrol tonight I'd stop by before and we could..."

"Get out of here, Buffy," Faith said angrily as she walked into the kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door. "Shouldn't have given you a fucking key."

"You didn't," Buffy said calmly as she stood next to her. "You left the window open."

"Breaking and entering won't look too good on that resume of yours."

Faith turned to her as she twisted the cap of her bottle of beer. A playful smile danced over Buffy's lips as she reached past her and pulled out a bottle for herself. Faith shook her head as she walked out of the kitchen and sat on the couch, instantly reaching for the remote and flipping on the TV. A part of her had been pleasantly surprised that Buffy had been there waiting for her and another part of her was pissed. Despite the fact she always wanted Buffy, always wanted her ready and waiting, she didn't want it tonight. She needed the night to think, to convince herself that all they had was what they had, an agreement between two friends. She had to push out the thoughts of love, of longing far from her mind and hope to hell she'd be able to let go of what she felt for Buffy before it all turned to shit.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked as she sat down next to her. "You don't look too happy that I'm here."

"I'm not."

"I know this isn't really part of the agreement, but...after today I..."

"Don't explain yourself to me, B. You're wasting your breath."

"We really need to talk about this," Buffy said softly as she took the remote from Faith's hand and turned the TV off. "It's different now."

"No shit."

"Faith can you just...listen to me? Please?"

"Fine."

"It's different now because I'm...I'm feeling something more for you. What happened this morning between us, well, you were right. It was more than just a fuck between us. I don't know what came over me this morning, but I do know that when I came here tonight, I wanted to talk to you about it."

"You're babbling."

"I know, I'm sorry," Buffy sighed as she reached over and gently cupped Faith's cheek and turned her face so she'd look at her. "Do you ever wonder why I came to you in the first place?"

"Needed someone to scratch your itch and I just happened to be readily available and more than willing."

"It's more than that."

"What is?"

"How I feel about you," she whispered. "I...its stupid."

"No," Faith shook her head as she turned a little so she could face Buffy more fully. "It's not stupid, B."

"I was feeling all these different things after we defeated the First and you just, you were there and the way you'd look at me sometimes made me question a few things about myself."

"Like what?"

"Well, obviously you know I'm not the straightest arrow in the box now," Buffy laughed uneasily.

"So, you're just a big raging dyke. What's the big deal?"

"It is a big deal, huge even," Buffy shrugged as she tore her eyes from Faith's intense gaze and took a sip of her beer. "Willow's been asking me questions. She wants to know what's going on, why I'm never home at night and I honestly don't know what to tell her anymore. I'm tired of lying to her."

"About what? About us or the fact you're just as big of a dyke as she is?" Faith asked, unable to stop the chuckle that escaped. "I don't think Will is going to be too surprised to find out that her best friend is gay."

"No, but she's not going to like the fact that I've been sleeping with you for the past year."

"Cos it's me, right?"

"It's complicated, Faith."

"It always it when it comes to us. Ever wonder why that is?" Faith asked her, knowing damn well Buffy wasn't going to answer her. "Figured as much, B. You should just go."

It felt too much like a relationship talk to Faith and she wasn't ready for that, she wasn't ready for any of it the more she thought about it. She rather would have everything go back to the way it'd been before, back to when the only feelings she had for Buffy were driven by lust and the need to find release she couldn't find anywhere else.

"I don't do relationships, B. You know that."

"I know I...wait, who said anything about a relationship?"

"Despite the agreement we have, that's exactly what's going on here. It's evolved into more and we can't just sit back and deny that anymore. I can't. I'm starting to feel things for you I have never felt with anyone else before. Believe me, B, I've been trying to ignore them, push them aside and I can't do it anymore."

"Do what?"

"Lie to myself and to you about how I feel."

"And how do you feel, Faith?" Buffy asked. Her curiously was now getting to the best of her as she struggled to hold onto Faith's wandering gaze. "Faith, just tell me how you feel."

"I'm fucking in love with you, Buffy! I am so in love with you it's not even fucking funny anymore and it hurts cos I know you'll never love me. You'll never be in love with me or want anything more than what we have."

Faith tried to get up from the couch, unsure of how Buffy would take her not so subtle outburst. She found herself behind held down as Buffy reached out with a shaky hand and placed it gently on her cheek. She took a few deep breaths as she turned to look at her and she felt her own tears spring to her eyes when she saw that Buffy was crying.

"That's not true," she said softly, doing nothing to stop her tears as she moved closer to Faith. "I do feel the same way about you, Faith. It's scared me, it's driven me, and it's made me absolutely crazy because I don't know how to deal with how I feel about you."

"Then what are we going to do about it? I don't think this little agreement we have between us is gonna work anymore."

"Faith...how long have you been feeling this way?"

"Not long. Dunno when it really started."

"Is it over then?" Buffy asked after neither of them had spoken for a few short minutes. "The agreement, I mean. Is it over?"

"Dunno, is it?"

"I don't want to stop seeing you," she whispered as she leaned in and lightly kissed her on the cheek, her lips lingering for a moment before she pulled away. "I remember what we said in the beginning after the first time, how we wouldn't let it be anything else but what it was. I remember how I felt when you said that to me and I...I think that's what made me be the way I am with you."

"You mean getting all dom on me?" Faith asked with a soft chuckle. "Gotta say, B. You being all in charge and having me turn to mush in the palm of your hand is all kinds of hot."

Buffy blushed as she moved away from Faith a little, giving them a bit of space, but not too much. "I just lose myself when I'm around you. I..."

"Don't explain it. You don't need to. I get it. Been there, done that, remember? Not like I ever complained about it either."

Faith smiled at her a little, trying to read her emotions as Buffy sat there and played with the label on the bottle of beer she'd barely drank. Her heart was racing wildly as she placed her bottle of beer on the coffee table and reached for Buffy's. She was letting her emotions take over, drive her and she pulled Buffy close to her.

"When I said I don't do relationships," Faith started as she pulled Buffy onto her lap and ran her fingers over her jean-clad thighs. "I meant...I don't know how to do relationships. Never had one before really. Always afraid I'll end up getting hurt and fucking up everything."

"I won't let you fuck up anything," Buffy whispered as she ran her fingers through Faith's hair. "I'm not good at the whole relationship thing either."

"So we're a pair then," Faith chuckled as she stared into Buffy's eyes. "Are we gonna...you know, do this?"

"I want to try."

"You gonna tell your friends about us?" Faith asked, searching Buffy's eyes as she leaned back a little. "I don't know if I can do what we've been doing anymore, B. It's fucking with my mind, my feelings, with my life. I hate how you act like there's nothing between us whenever anyone else is around. I hate that you won't even look at me if there's someone else in the room with us."

"I..."

"Buffy, if we do this, we're not keeping it a secret. If you can't deal with it, then I can't do this. I can't continue with the agreement and I won't have a relationship with you if you can't fucking admit how you feel about me to your friends."

"I'm scared," she whispered. "It's not just about you, Faith. It's about me. About who I am now."

"But you are who you are and if your friends can't accept that, tell them to go fuck themselves."

"That's easy for you to say," Buffy replied coldly. "You've never been afraid of what others think about you. You've never been afraid to just be who you are. For the longest time I didn't know who I was and ever since..."

"Buffy, so you are a big fucking dyke and you're in love with me. It's not the end of the world. They'll learn to accept it in time. Can't expect them to throw you this big coming out party when you tell them, you know?"

"There are parties now?" Buffy asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Well, in that case, I'm all for parties."

"All joking aside, B. The only way you can accept yourself is if you stop lying to everyone around you about who you are and who you want to be with and who you love."

Faith could hardly believe the words that were coming out of her mouth, but she meant every single one of them. She wasn't going to push her feelings aside any longer and she wanted this, she wanted more than just the agreement between them and she knew that was what Buffy wanted too. But she could feel the fear inside of Buffy, she could see it, hell she could almost taste it as she stared at her, waiting for her to say something, say anything.

"I need time."

"How much time?"

"I don't know, Faith. I just need time."

Faith was still trying to wrap her head around everything. Buffy loved her; she was in love with her just as much as she was in love with Buffy. It didn't feel real, yet it was. It felt different, right, but there was something missing that Faith couldn't quite put her finger on. She knew one of them, if not both of them, would end up getting hurt in the end. Faith didn't do relationships, she couldn't. The commitment was what scared her off, closed her up and made her want to run as far and as fast as she could. For some inexplicable reason she wanted to try.

"How much time, B?" Faith asked her, searching her eyes for any hint of doubt, of lies that lay behind the fresh tears that now fell from her eyes. "Tell me how much time you need."

"I don't know," she whispered, shaking slightly as she quickly wiped away her tears as they fell. "God, I hate this, Faith. I know what I want, who I want and yet...I'm scared of taking that step."

"We already fucked how many times, B?" Faith chuckled. "Taking that next step should've happened long before we started fucking."

"I...it's not that," she sighed. "I mean, it's you. I'm afraid of letting myself fall completely for you."

"Is that why you never look at me when we're in the cemetery? Is that why you refuse to let me touch you until we're here?"

"Faith..."

"I need to know, Buffy."

"I don't know why."

"I'm not gonna intentionally hurt you, Buffy. I'm not gonna break your heart cos I am afraid of having something that means something more than just a fuck with you. I want to try to be everything you want, everything you need and definitely deserve. You gonna give me that chance, B?"

"Yes."

"You gonna grow some balls and tell your friends about us?"

"Faith...I told you, I need time."

"I understand that," she said as she lifted Buffy off of her and reached for her bottle of beer and took a sip. "I just...and fuck I sound like such a girl...I don't want to go back to the way it's been. I don't want you to not look at me, to avoid me all day. I don't want you to fucking use me anymore."

"I wasn't using you."

"But you were, B. Think about it. When it first happened, who made the first move? You did. Who was the one who brought up the whole agreement? You did. You took complete control over everything and I was just left there to deal, to let it happen and to occasionally return the favour."

"Faith, I wasn't using you," she whispered as she reached out for her hand and gently intertwined their fingers together. "God, I'm sorry if that's how it felt, but I swear to you that I was not using you. The first time, maybe I was, but after that it wasn't like that anymore."

"Could've fooled me," Faith replied bitterly. "You should just go, B. We're getting nowhere with talking about this and right now, I just want to be alone. I need to be alone."

"Can I...come back later?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Cos I know why you want to come back later, B. The agreement is over. You don't always get your way and I'm not letting it continue the way it has been. I know this is pretty fucked up coming from me, but I hated this agreement, I hated how you made me feel afterwards whenever you left. Guess the whole `getting a taste of my own medicine' thing made me see this for what it really is."

"You wanted me to stay?"

"I've always wanted you to stay," Faith admitted, her voice cracking with emotion as she struggled not to look away from Buffy's eyes. Eyes that stared at her with more than just yearning, more than just love.

"You should have told me."

"I know and I'm telling you now. Better late than never right?"

"If I stay, will you let me come back later?"

"Buffy, I don't think so."

"But I..."

Faith cut her off, shaking her head as she stood up from the couch. "You said you needed time and I do too. As much as I do want to keep fucking you and having you all to myself, I can't do this now that everything has been laid out on the line. What happened between us this morning really opened my eyes and it really made me realize how I feel about you. It's scary, I'll admit that much and only cos I had no idea at first how you felt about me."

"You don't think I'm not scared, that I haven't always been?"

Faith shook her head, laughing as she quickly finished her beer and walked into the kitchen. She couldn't believe everything that had just happened between them. She couldn't believe what they'd just talked about and how everything surely had changed now. There was no going back, no letting go, no forgetting all those moments they had. She wasn't sure how to go forwards either. She didn't want to push Buffy, she didn't want to push her into coming out to her family and her friends when she clearly wasn't ready. It was beyond Faith, beyond what they had and she tried so hard to not be so fucking selfish about it. It was nearly impossible. She wanted Buffy, she didn't want to push her away and never be with her again. She didn't want to go back to the beginning yet she didn't want to go back to having what they'd had before either.

Confusion and meddled feelings was never a good sign. In the past, Faith had always run from moments like this, she always had run and holed herself up, shut herself down in hopes she'd regain some part of herself that she recognized. Buffy had completely turned her whole world upside down and there was no going back. There'd never be any going back. It was far too late now. It'd been too late since the moment their whole agreement had begun.

She stood by the open refrigerator, downing her second bottle of beer and reaching for a third. She didn't relax until she heard Buffy get up and leave. The soft click of the door made her shudder in both relief and disappointment and she let a few tears of frustration fall from her eyes. It'd been so much easier before when there were no deep feelings involved. It had been so much easier just to take and give without feeling guilty, without feeling anything but the undeniable pleasure and control Buffy had over her. Her heart began to race as she heard the door open and she spun around, barely able to take a breath as Buffy crushed her lips hard against hers.

She wanted to push her away, yet she couldn't. She wanted to take a step back, maybe talk about it. But they'd already talked about it. What more was there left for them to say? Faith sighed as she just let herself become lost in the tender, passionate kiss and reached out almost blindly as she placed her bottle of beer on the counter and slid her hands over Buffy's hips and held her close. She ran her hands over Buffy's ass, giving it a gentle squeeze as she lifted her up. Buffy moaned into her mouth softly as she wrapped her legs around her waist. Faith carried her out of the kitchen and towards the bedroom, never stopping to break away from the kiss even though she knew she should have stopped, she should have pushed her away and told her she shouldn't have come back.

Should've, would've, could've. It was too late for all of that now.

For once Faith was in control, Faith was leading things although as always, Buffy had started it by kissing her. Faith stopped just short of the bedroom door and broke away from the kiss, her eyes searching Buffy's intensely although she wasn't so sure what she was looking for.

"B, if we're gonna do this," Faith whispered as she closed her eyes for a moment, relishing in the feel of Buffy tenderly running her fingers through her hair and over the back of her neck. "We're gonna do this slow and you're gonna have to let me have some sort of control every once in awhile."

"I'm okay with that."

"I'll wait for a little while cos I know you aren't ready to come out of the closet you've locked yourself in."

"I didn't lock myself in any closet," she laughed softly.

"I don't want you to play me, B."

"I'm not. I won't."

Faith sighed as she let her down to her feet and kept her hands on her hips as she leaned in and kissed her so softly it made her heart flutter just a little. "Come back later, B. Everyone is gonna wonder why you aren't out on patrol with the girls right now."

"We'll take the day off tomorrow," Buffy whispered as she reached for Faith's hands and smiled up at her so sweetly it almost made Faith's heart swell. "You and me, all day. No interruptions, nothing. Just the two of us."

"Liking that idea, B."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Faith smiled, feeling herself soften even more so as Buffy gently kissed her and took a few steps back. "We'll talk when you come back later. I think talking is what we need to be doing instead of..."

"I know. We'll talk. We need to and what we talked about tonight, I'm glad we finally got it out. I've wanted to tell you before how I felt about you."

"You still technically haven't told me how you feel about me, B."

"I love you," she whispered. "I'm not afraid to say it or feel it anymore. I love you, Faith."

Faith smiled as she leaned against the wall and watched Buffy leave. She was so lovesick it almost made her quiver at the thought. But she didn't care anymore. They weren't stalling and they weren't taking any steps back. They were slowly moving forward, slowly moving towards having something more. Something real.

Chapter 4: Chapter Four

Author's Notes:

When Buffy arrived at Faith's apartment after patrol, Faith was already asleep on the couch, the remote still in her hand mid click. Faith woke up when she heard the door softly click and she smiled sleepily up at Buffy as she turned off the TV. She didn't move from the couch as Buffy slipped off her boots and climbed on top of her.

"Good patrol?" Faith asked as Buffy made herself comfortable.

"Would have been better if you were there. Sorry for waking you."

"Nah," Faith chuckled as she tried to stretch out a bit. "I was just resting my eyes."

Buffy smiled up at her as she ran her fingers over her bare arms. Faith just laid there, one hand resting on Buffy's lower back and the other behind her head. She closed her eyes again as she struggled not to fall asleep. She never felt so relaxed with Buffy there and she had no doubt in her mind it had to do with the talk they had earlier. It was scary and new, despite the fact that the two of them being close wasn't all too new. They were reaching a different peak in their budding relationship and as scared as Faith was about it, she welcomed it. She was ready for whatever would come their way and she was ready for whatever obstacles would be there waiting for them.

She wanted to continue the talk from earlier. She knew they still had a lot of things to clear up between them. They needed to find a more common ground and Faith needed to know where the relationship was going to go. She wanted to hear it from Buffy. She wanted to know the expectations she'd have to live up to. She knew Buffy well enough to know there'd be plenty of expectations and she wasn't about to turn around and disappoint her in any way or form. Things between them just couldn't go with the flow, not like they had been throughout the course of the last year. If she was going to wait around for Buffy to be ready and sure before she came out to her family and friends, she needed to know everything.

Her thoughts were temporarily lost as she felt Buffy's warm mouth gently bite her nipple through her shirt. Any bit of tiredness was gone within that moment and she groaned as Buffy slowly slid her shirt up. She could feel the heat emanating off of Buffy and she wasn't in any position to stop her from getting what she wanted. She'd grown to love this take charge side of Buffy over the last year and despite her heart and her mind screaming at her to stop Buffy before it went further, her body gave in and responded like the traitor it was.

"B...Buffy...we should go into the bedroom," Faith breathed out softly as Buffy pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor behind the couch.

"Not now."

The Slayer inside of Buffy was controlling her and it was in moments like this Faith was helpless and was literally a pile of mush in the palm of Buffy's hand. Buffy was almost feral after patrol and it made Faith ache for what she knew would come. Already she was about to pop and Buffy had done nothing more than shower sloppy wet kisses over her stomach, breasts and neck.

Finding a sliver of control, Faith pulled Buffy's shirt off, her fingers trailing over her back until she reached the clasp on her bra. She was being tender, instead of anxious and rough and the way Buffy shivered underneath her light touch told her Buffy was enjoying this side of her immensely. She found more than a sliver of control as Buffy tried to slide her sweats down and she flipped them over and held Buffy's hands firmly over her head.

"How many did you dust tonight?" Faith whispered as she licked at Buffy's neck, feeling her squirm under her as she wrapped a leg around her waist. "How many, B?"

"I...a dozen, maybe."

"Busy night, huh?" Faith grinned as she hovered above her. "Bet you could hardly contain yourself on the walk over here, huh?"

"Faith..."

"What, B?"

"Don't do this," she whispered breathlessly as she struggled to get her hands out from Faith's tight hold.

"Don't do what? Thought you were gonna let me be in control once in awhile? What, B? Don't you like being the submissive one for a change?"

Faith's demeanour softened when she realized she didn't want to take it this way. Things were different now. It was just about the fucking and scratching each other's itch. It was so much more. She had to wonder for a moment if it had always been about the `more' part. She knew her body always instantly reacted to Buffy even when she would only look at her. Hell, her body would react just thinking about Buffy, even in the most innocent of ways. It had always been that way for her and now was not the time to reflect on the reasons why.

"Faith?" Buffy said softly as Faith let go of her hands and tried to get off of her. "Don't be like this. I was kind of enjoying it."

"Bullshit."

"Stop it," Buffy sighed as she held Faith to her, preventing her from moving away. "Don't ruin the mood because you are fighting this inner struggle inside of yourself right now."

"Who says I'm fighting anything?"

"I can sense it, Faith," she said as she kissed the top of her head, not loosening her grip on her. "Everything you feel I feel too."

Faith could feel Buffy's heart beating against her own as she allowed herself to be held tightly. She felt stupid for putting herself through all of this, for feeling conflicted when it wasn't necessary. She knew exactly what she wanted and she had everything she never dreamt of having before. This was too new for her and despite her efforts to not have her internal struggle, she was constantly fighting that never-ending battle whether she wanted to be or not.

"You were right before," Buffy whispered softly as Faith shifted slightly to get more comfortable. "Maybe we should take things a bit slower between us. It's just that, whenever I am around you, I can't seem to control myself. Sometimes I don't want to control myself. Like right now."

Faith chuckled as she lightly kissed Buffy's neck and moved to face her. "We're definitely on the same page here, B. I take one look at you and all I want to do is fuck you, make love to you until I collapse from exhaustion. You make me feel things I never thought I'd ever feel with anyone. I just want to be with you all the time, I want to touch you, kiss you, taste you and show you just how much I...I love you."

"Then what are you holding yourself back for, Faith? Want, take, have."

Faith lifted herself off of Buffy and the couch and pulled her up, crushing her lips against hers as she made her way to the bedroom, pulling Buffy with her. Halfway to the bedroom they'd stripped the rest of their clothes and Buffy pulled Faith forcefully, taking back a little bit of control she was so used to having in their relationship. They crashed onto the unmade bed, both giggling as the bed creaked under the force from their fall.

Feeling completely lost in the delicious sensations of feeling Buffy's body beneath her own, Faith kissed her deeply, her hands roaming every inch of Buffy's body she could reach. She groaned in protest as Buffy broke away from the kiss and reached for the nightstand drawer. With wide eyes, Faith watched as she pulled out the strap-on they'd only used once before. She needed no words and she didn't have to ask her if she was sure. The look in Buffy's eyes told her everything she needed to know. Buffy wanted it and she never refused anything Buffy wanted. She kissed her briefly before she got off the bed and took the strap-on from Buffy's hands, her eyes not leaving hers as she slid it on.

"Slow," Buffy whispered as she beckoned her back to the bed. "I want you to fuck me slow, Faith."

"Anything for you, B."

Faith crawled onto the bed, holding herself up over Buffy with one hand as she ran her other up her smooth inner thigh, spreading her legs apart. Trying to still her rapidly beating heart, Faith grabbed onto the smooth plastic phallus, groaning as she watched as she ran the tip over Buffy's slit. She was teasing her and from the small guttural moans Buffy made, she knew she loved being teased this way even if there were moments when she looked as if she was about to scream out in frustration. Buffy reached out and gripped onto her hips, forcing Faith forward. Buffy whimpered as Faith stilled, allowing her a second to adjust to the dildo buried deep inside of her.

This was nothing like the first and only time they'd used it. This was slow instead of hard and fast and up against the bedroom door. The images that came with that memory made Faith's body flood with almost painful arousal as she kissed Buffy deeply, passionately, her hips slowly grinding and thrusting forwards. Buffy was trembling beneath her as she kept her slow and steady pace and she moaned into her mouth, biting on her lower lip as Buffy raked her nails down her back and gripped onto her ass, forcing her to go deeper inside of her.

Faith stopped kissing her, her lips just barely touching Buffy's as she reached down and gripped onto Buffy's thigh, holding it tightly as she gradually sped up her thrusts. The look of pure passionate lust in Buffy's eyes alone was driving her over the edge and she struggled to hold off until Buffy was ready to come with her. The heat in the room and the heat being generated between them caused Faith's body to sheen with a light layer of perspiration as she struggled to keep the pace as Buffy moaned and writhed and clutched onto her, slowly reaching her peak.

"Don't stop..." Buffy sighed out as she closed her eyes. "So close..."

"Right there with you, Buffy," Faith groaned into her neck as she stilled her hips for a moment, feeling the first waves of her orgasm flood through her body.

"Fuck, baby..."

Faith gently bit down on her shoulder as she came long and hard, feeling Buffy come with her. Their bodies shook and trembled as Faith let her hold her close. She licked her lips slowly as she pulled back from Buffy, slowly sliding the rubber phallus out of her. She took it off, wanting nothing more to feel Buffy fully against her and she settled back in between her legs, her entire body reacting to the feel of Buffy's hot and wet pussy fully against her own.

"I've been looking forward to that since the last time," Buffy whispered as Faith laid her head down on her chest, concentrating only on the sound of Buffy's rapidly beating heart. "Faith?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you falling asleep on me already?"

"Just resting my eyes, B."

Buffy chuckled as she reached for the covers and slid pulled them over them. "Go to sleep, Faith."

"Are you staying?"

"I'm staying."

Faith mumbled a sleepy `thank you' as she finally gave into the eternal pull of sleep. The satisfying ache between her legs and over her entire body flooded through her with every breath she took. Never had she felt so content after being with Buffy. It was entirely different now and for some reason unknown to her the last thing she thought of was wondering why it had taken them so long to get to this point.

****

The bed next to Faith was empty the next morning when she woke and she groaned out loudly as she stretched her stiff body out. With a quick glance at the clock, she pulled the pillow over her head and cursed at the fact that six in the morning was much too early for anyone to be awake.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee lured her out of bed and without bothering to get dressed she walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen. Buffy was standing by the coffee pot, wearing absolutely nothing as she talked to what Faith could tell was Willow and sipped a cup of coffee. She smiled to herself as she slowly walked up behind Buffy and wrapped her arms around her. Her fingers danced over the smooth skin of her stomach as she lightly kissed over her shoulders and her neck.

"Will, I got to go. Just tell Giles we're not coming in today," she said as she stifled a moan and quickly hung up. "Morning, baby."

"What are you doing up so fucking early?"

"I'm always up early. I had to call in and Willow answered the phone. You know how she likes to go on and on. Wanted to know why we wanted a day off."

"What'd you tell her?"

"We need a break. She knows we haven't had a day off in like forever."

"Mm-hmm."

Faith groaned as she pressed her body tighter to Buffy's, her hands caressing her skin as she closed her eyes and felt herself become lost in the sensations of how Buffy's body reacted to her simple touch. Buffy placed her hand over Faith's as it moved lower down her stomach and she stopped her from going any further.

"I don't know about you, but I do need at least two cups of coffee to survive."

Faith chuckled as she kissed the back of her neck softly and pulled away. "Hard to think about coffee when you are parading around the kitchen naked."

"It's hot in here," Buffy whispered as she turned her head so Faith wouldn't see the slight blush creep across her cheeks. "I told you last summer you should get some air conditioning in here."

"Don't need it. The heat doesn't bother me much. Besides, summer is nearly over. Makes no sense in getting one now, you know?"

Buffy only nodded, moaning softly as Faith's lips began their pleasurable assault on her neck. She placed her cup of coffee on the counter in front of her, spinning around and quickly capturing Faith's lips with her own. Faith started backing up out of the kitchen, keeping Buffy as close to her as she could. Buffy handed over complete control to Faith and rather than dwell on it for a moment too long, she kept up the momentum, kissing her hard and deep as she reached the couch and came to a stop.

"Still gonna whine about the coffee now, B?"

"No," Buffy whispered breathlessly as she pulled Faith down on the couch. "I'm thinking you'll find other ways to get me fully awake."

"You never underestimate me. That's what I love about you."

"Anything else that you love about me?"

Faith smirked as she hovered over her slightly, moving her right hand in between them and running it lightly over her stomach. "I love the way you feel against me, the way your body reacts when I touch you. Drove me fucking crazy when you wouldn't let me before."

"Is that all?" Buffy pouted as she reached up and ran her fingers through Faith's hair, smirking as Faith shook her head no. "Didn't think so."

"Love the way you look at me even when you just look at me. Gets me so fucking hot."

"Mm-hmm."

Faith trailed her fingers slower, stopping as she reached Buffy's clit and stared into her eyes. "I love the little ways you show me how you feel. Even before, when it was just an agreement, I could feel how you really felt about me. You said it all in the way you'd kiss me sometimes."

"Couldn't hide it as well as I thought I did, huh?"

"You know what else I love about you, B?" Faith asked, wondering how the hell it went from making out to talking about this. "I love how you'd just take me whenever and however you wanted. Nobody ever had the kind of power over me that you do."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Cos it's you, B."

Buffy moaned softly as Faith gently circled over her clit. "I've never...seen this side of you before."

"Me neither. What can I say? You bring out all these different sides of me I never knew existed before. Hell, a couple of days ago I was trying to convince myself I wasn't in love with you cos I never fall in love."

The little voice inside Faith's head was telling her to shut up before she said some things that would completely destroy the mood. Buffy had her eyes closed and she bit her lower lip, stifling a low moan as Faith slid her fingers lower, lightly teasing her hole before gingerly sliding a single finger inside of her. Seeing Buffy be so submissive and so willing to relinquish all control without a fight was empowering to Faith. She never had this type of power over Buffy and she knew she couldn't get too used to it either. The few times in the past year she did have almost complete control, Buffy turned it around and had her begging for more and begging for her to stop all at the same time.

She wanted Buffy to touch her, to fuck her as the ache between her legs grew nearly painful. She tried not to let it get to her, she knew she'd get some soon and she leaned in and kissed Buffy lightly as she slowly slid a second finger inside her. Buffy roughly scratched down her back as she picked up the pace of her thrusting fingers and they both moaned as Buffy slid her hand between them and wasted no time in thrusting two fingers up Faith's waiting, hot and wet cunt.

"Fuck..." Faith sighed out as she tried to keep up with the pace Buffy was now setting between them and at that pace she knew she'd be coming within a matter of minutes. She didn't want to come too quickly and she slowed down her thrusts, hoping Buffy would as well.

"God...I am so fucking close," Buffy whimpered as she reached up with her free hand and pulled Faith down for an excruciatingly passionate kiss.

Faith let out a slight whimper. Hearing Buffy curse was a rare occasion and it never failed to turn her on to the point where she couldn't hold her pleasure for overtaking her completely. She tried to stop over-thinking and just focus on the feelings, the sensations, the pleasure and the delicious heat they were creating together. The heat in the apartment now felt cool against her overcharged body and she pulled back from the kiss, resting her forehead against Buffy's as she felt the edges of her orgasm begin to peak.

Buffy pulled her fingers out, leaving Faith to groan out in protest at her sudden move. She felt Buffy reach for her hand and she couldn't hold back the soft smile as she let Buffy take her hand in hers and she pressed herself hard against her. Faith shifted slightly, opening herself up more to feel Buffy more fully against her. It was wet, hot heat and in the moments before Faith's orgasm finally reached its peak and beyond, she never felt more full or closer to Buffy than she did right then.

"I love you," Buffy whispered as Faith collapsed on top of her, out of breath but not nearly spent.

"I love you too," she whispered back, keeping their fingers intertwined as she closed her eyes, her body still tense, still needing and wanting more. "Have I told you how happy I am we got the whole day to ourselves?"

"Kind of showed me just now," Buffy chuckled softly as she tenderly stroked Faith's back.

"Still all kinds of worked up."

"Better do something about that then."

Faith responded only by gently nipping and sucking on her neck, slowly grinding her hips into Buffy as she felt herself spiral down into what she knew was never-ending passion and excitement. Only Buffy had ever made her feel this way as her previous partners, both male and female, had failed to bring her to this level. Her previous partners had never even come close.

It was because she was in love with Buffy and she knew that now. She knew it was more than just the way she felt when they fucked, when they made love. It was how she felt just being around Buffy that made it that much better and that much more passionate.

Their soft sighs and moans and gasps of pleasure filled the room, their eyes boring deeply into one another's, lips devouring each other's. They were so completely lost within their own little world, only focusing on the one thing that mattered between them that they didn't hear the footsteps in the hallway nor did they hear the soft knocks at the door that followed.

The small gasp when the door opened forced them apart and Buffy whimpered so quietly only Faith heard her. She took a deep breath, giving her a light kiss before she leaned up and peered over the back of the couch at the unwelcome visitor.

Chapter 5: Chapter Five

Author's Notes: Just so you all know, I didn't forget about this one...been writing a couple other fics so I've been trying to bounce back and forth...sorry for the wait...

Willow pulled the car to a stop in the visitor parking spot just outside of Faith's building. She muttered under her breath as she got out of the car and headed for the door and used the key she had gotten from Giles to let herself in the back door of the building.

"Sends the witch to confront a lazy Slayer," she said under her breath as she took the stairs up to the fourth floor. "Wants to know why Buffy called in for the both of them...needs her in if Buffy's off today, no questions asked...ever hear a phone, Giles?"

She laughed as she shook her head and walked out of the stairwell door. The building was quiet and aside from the few sounds in the apartments that she passed, she wondered if Faith would even be awake at the time in the morning. She reached her door and listened for a moment. She couldn't hear anything a raised her hand and knocked on the door softly in case Faith was still asleep. When she got no answer, she slid the key into the lock and slowly opened the door, unable to stop the gasp that left her mouth as the sounds of pleasure filled her ears. Her face flushed a deep red and she knew she should just turn around and leave.

Faith popped her head up from the couch, her trademark shit eating grin on her face as she looked over at her. Even from the angle Willow was standing, she could see Faith was in the middle of something. Her inner voices were telling her to retreat, apologize and retreat before she saw things she knew she wasn't mentally prepared for.

"What are you doing here?" Faith asked, not moving as she stared at her.

"Giles sent me...he...okay, well...I'll just leave you there with Mr-what's-his-name and go find Buffy."

Willow found she couldn't move from the spot by the door and she let her eyes wander over the clothes scattered throughout the living room. Her internal sensors and her inner voice kept telling her to retreat, but she couldn't as her eyes drifted back to meet Faith's.

"Something you wanted, Will?"

"Giles needs you in today."

"Too fucking bad. Taking the day off."

Willow nodded, her eyes once again roaming over the clothes on the floor. It hit her that it wasn't a guy that Faith was with right then, but a woman and she couldn't fight off the blush as she reached for the doorknob, clutching it tightly until her knuckles went white.

"You gonna stand there all day or are you gonna give a girl her privacy?" Faith asked, smirking as she leaned up a little more, finding no shame in her to cover herself up. "Something else you wanted? Gonna stand there all day and gawk? Don't think your girlfriend would like the idea of you ogling my goodies."

Willow was flustered and she just couldn't find it in her to back away leave, which is what she should have done immediately. "I...I should just go to Buffy's place and...talk to her...yeah...going now..."

"Go on then. What you waiting for?"

"I'm sorry for just barging in here like this. Giles was all `I need you to talk to Faith and explain to her the importance of having her there when Buffy isn't' and I was all `are you crazy?' nothing against you, Faith, everyone knows you are not a morning person and sending me probably wasn't the greatest idea, was it? I'll go talk to Buffy, maybe you two could work something out? Half day or something just to keep Giles from losing his head. We can't have that now, can we?"

"Willow," Buffy said softly as she sat up on the couch and reached for the pillow to cover up some of her modesty that she had left. "We're taking the day off. The whole day. If Giles has a problem with that, he can talk to us both tomorrow himself."

"Buffy?" Willow's eyes grew wide and then it hit her as she started to put together all the pieces, slowly. "What are you doing here and...naked with a very naked Faith?! Are you...sleeping with Faith?"

"Willow..."

"Are you?"

"Look, Will," Faith started as she grabbed the throw blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her as she stood up. "Now probably isn't a good time for this whole confrontation thing..."

"Are you sleeping with Faith?" Willow asked, her voice high as she stared at Buffy. "When did this...I mean did how did you...and Faith...oh wow...Kennedy told me she thought you were seeing someone, but Faith?"

"Something wrong with her sleeping with a chick, Will?" Faith asked angrily as she sat back down next to Buffy and placed a hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her as the tears began to fall. "Is that what you have a problem with or do you have a problem with that chick being me?"

"Buffy?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Can we not talk about this right now, Will? This isn't such a good time."

"Now is a good a time as any," Willow said softly as she tried to ignore her voices inside her head that were now screaming at her to get the hell out of there. "How long have you been lying to me?"

"Lying to you? Will I never..."

"All those nights you took off without a word you came here, didn't you?"

"Yes, but..."

"All those times I asked you if you were seeing someone and you told me no, it was just a great big lie, wasn't it?"

"Will..."

"I'm supposed to be your best friend, Buffy! You don't keep something like this from your best friend!"

Buffy continued to cry softly, holding the pillow close to her chest as her eyes darted back and forth between Willow and Faith. "I'm sorry, Will. I just didn't know how to tell you."

Faith stood up, breathing deeply as she forced to keep her anger from spilling out. She picked up her clothes and Buffy's then walked right up to Willow and yanked open the door. Without a word, she shoved her outside and slammed the door behind her.

"Well I never..." Willow flustered as she stared at the door. She opened it and found the chain had been put on and she groaned out as she knocked on the door. "We need to talk about this!"

"Go away!" Faith growled angrily as she slammed the door shut again. "If Buffy doesn't want to talk about this right now, she's not gonna talk about it. Do yourself a favour and just leave before I get really pissed off."

"Faith..." Buffy said softly yet loud enough for Willow to hear her through the door. "Maybe I should just talk to her?"

"She just fucking barged in here like she's welcome here! You want to talk to her? Fine. Tell her everything. Tell her how long we've been fucking. Tell her about our little agreement and be sure as fuck to tell her about our recent developments."

It was several minutes and Willow still stood there, shell-shocked and trying to ignore the voices in her head that were chattering away excitedly. Buffy finally opened the door and she was still crying, her face flushed a deep crimson and she was now dressed and held a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Buffy, how come you..."

"Come inside. I don't think Faith would appreciate her neighbours getting a little soap opera show this early in the morning," she said softly as she held the door open for her.

"Where is she?"

"Went to have a shower to try and calm down. You shouldn't have just walked in like that, Will."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone else would be here with her and I really didn't think you'd be here either."

Willow followed Buffy into the kitchen and they sat down at the table. She noticed right away that Buffy was having a hard time meeting her eyes and she did nothing but stare into her coffee mug as she fought back the tears that just kept on coming.

"Buffy, how long?"

"About a year."

"A year!"

"Willow...please don't start on me about this," she sighed softly as she briefly looked up at her. "It started out as nothing, but..."

"But what?"

"I am in love with her now."

"It's Faith!"

"I know that," Buffy chuckled softly.

"Faith doesn't do relationships."

"I know that, but she's in love with me too."

"So does this mean..."

"Yes."

"And nobody else knows?"

"No."

"And you are sure you are in love with her?"

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"But it's Faith! Queen of the one night stands, the `get some, get gone' girl."

Buffy sighed as she shook her head. Willow was just having an extremely hard time believing that Faith had the ability to love Buffy the way she deserved to be loved. She wasn't just going to stand by and watch Buffy get hurt yet again. Her mind was going a million miles a minute and she tried not to make a big deal out of the situation, but it was huge. Willow had never, in all the years she'd known Buffy, expected for her to do something like this.

"You weren't going to tell anyone, were you?"

"I was..."

"Buffy, don't lie to me. Not anymore. You weren't going to tell anyone about you and Faith, were you?"

"I was. I swear. Once I was ready to. I just didn't know how anyone would react."

"Because they are finding out you are gay or because of the fact you've been getting with the girly loving with Faith?"

"It has nothing to do with Faith."

"You're sleeping with her."

"I know I am!" Buffy sighed out in frustration. "I just...how did you feel when you found out you were gay and didn't know how to tell anyone about you and Tara? Like you were someone completely different and you weren't sure how anyone would react, right?"

"That's different..."

"It's not different, Will!"

"Okay, so it's not different. We aren't talking about me and Tara, we are talking about you and Faith," Willow sighed as she shook her head. "How...I mean why? It's Faith!"

"You keep saying that."

"But Faith? Really Buffy?"

Buffy groaned out loudly as she placed her head on the table in front of her. Willow just shook her head continuously, her mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish. She was still trying to wrap her head around what she'd walked in on and what Buffy was saying to her, but she couldn't quite process it all at once. It was like systems overload in her brain and as soon as it really hit her, that's when she hit the floor with a loud thud that echoed through the small apartment.

****

Faith stood under the water, letting the hot water pierce her skin and relax her tight, tense muscles. Hearing the conversation between Buffy and Willow had stabbed a rough nerve inside of her. She wanted to go out there and strangle Willow for being such a bitch to Buffy about the whole thing. The things Willow had said about her had hurt too. Ever since they'd left Sunnydale and continued on with their lives, she had left the old Faith far behind. The only person she'd slept with in the last year had been Buffy so the `queen of the one night stands' statement Willow had made was not accurate, not anymore. And it aggravated her to no end.

"Fucking witch," she muttered as she closed her eyes and fought the urge to punch the ever-living shit out of the wall. "Judge me like that? Who the hell do you think you are?"

She laughed at herself for a moment before turning off the water and stepping out. Just as she reached for her towel, she heard the thud coming from the kitchen. She wrapped her towel around her body quickly as she walked out and found Buffy trying to wake an unconscious Willow up.

"What happened?"

"She just fainted. I don't know. Maybe it was too much?" Buffy shrugged as she gently picked Willow up and carried her to the smaller couch by the window.

Faith groaned as she held the towel tightly to keep it from falling. "Can you believe the shit she was saying? You'd think of all people she wouldn't care who you are with!"

"Faith...you got to understand where she's coming from."

"I do and I don't! You know something, Buffy? If she thinks I'm still the same old Faith then I am pretty fucking sure everyone else thinks the same thing! I can't fucking win, can I? I can't fucking be happy with you or be in love with you or friends with you without everyone thinking I'm gonna fuck you around!"

"Faith..."

"What's it gonna take for everyone to see I'm different now, huh?" Faith snapped as she completely lost whatever was left of her cool. "It's quite obvious now why you are so scared of coming out of the closet. It's not because you are fucking gay, it's because you are with me."

"Faith, shut up!" Buffy said in a hushed whisper as she backed her up to the bedroom. Once they were inside she closed the door behind her and pushed Faith onto the bed roughly. "It's not because of you, okay? Despite the fact this has been going on for a year between us I am still having a hard time trying to accept the person I am now!"

"B...you always have been this person, you just sailed down the denial river for far too long, afraid to step onto dry, stable land."

"Shut up," she mumbled as she moved to straddle Faith's hips and grabbed her hands and roughly pinned them at her sides against the mattress. "Now you listen to me, Faith. You know how I feel about this whole thing, about you and about myself. I honestly didn't know how to deal with Willow coming here like this and for her to react the way she did, well to be honest, I expected that from her."

"But..."

"You know how everyone used to feel about you...how they still feel...and things like that just don't change instantly. It takes time."

"Like with us. All it took was a fuck in the cemetery and you haven't looked back," Faith chuckled angrily as she turned her head to the side to avoid looking Buffy in the eyes.

"Took a lot more than that."

"No, it didn't, Buffy. Before that night, you barely said a fucking word to me. You hated that I was back and that Giles wanted me to hang around and help out with everything after Sunnydale. You hated the fact that I was always there and that I was just around! You fucking hated me, Buffy. Don't you fucking lie to me and tell me you didn't."

"But I didn't hate you," she whispered as she reached up and gently cupped Faith's face. "I never hated you. Maybe I did for a while, but that's besides the fact. After Sunnydale and on the bus ride to LA I couldn't stop thinking about you and the what if's."

"What?"

"Kept thinking to myself, what if everything had been different between us? What if we'd tried to be friends and took it one step further. Then of course I was thinking about eating everything in sight as soon as we spotted a restaurant, but that's normal."

Faith laughed as she pulled Buffy down and lightly kissed her. "I think you were letting the hungry and the horny part of slaying get to you then."

"The way you looked at me that day, after all was said and done and even before I thought that, it's when I knew."

"Knew what?"

"That I didn't hate you anymore, not even a little bit, and I knew that maybe, just maybe, I loved you. That I always had."

"Is that why you jumped me after we stopped in that one town when we ran into those demons?"

"I didn't jump you."

"I beg to differ," Faith smirked as she ran her hands up Buffy's back and held her close. "You fucking jumped me as soon as we were off alone. One look was all it took and the next thing I know..."

"Shh."

"What? Don't you want to talk about this? It's our fucking history, pun purely intended."

"You can't ever be serious for more than five minutes, can you?"

"Not with you sitting on me like this while I'm in nothing but a towel and not to mention that I'm still wet."

Buffy's grin grew wide as she ran her fingers up Faith's thighs. "Are you?"

"From the shower, B."

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Wet from the...shower," she gasped as Buffy ran her middle finger up the length of her slit and circled her clit gently. "Jesus, B...we can't do this right now..."

Once again Faith was literally in the palm of Buffy's hands, her protests to stop coming out weak as Buffy leaned in to kiss her to muffle her moans. She struggled to hold onto any bit of resolve she had left in her and failed miserably. She forgot everything she was feeling, the anger of the things Willow had said about her and the simple fact that Willow was still there in her apartment, passed out on her couch.

A sensual chill ran through Faith's body as Buffy slid the towel off of her and began to kiss and suck at her neck as she thrust two fingers deep inside of her. Faith struggled to get Buffy out of her clothes and once again in a matter of minutes she failed. She was lost in the delicious sensations Buffy's fingers were giving her and she gripped onto the sheets next to her as she arched up into Buffy's skilful thrusts.

"I know why you agreed to this with me in the first place," Buffy whispered as she moved her lips along Faith's jaw and stopped completely when she reached her lips. "I tamed you."

"Fucking right you did."

"There's also another factor."

"What's that?" Faith asked softly, her hips meeting Buffy's thrust for thrust. "The fact that you knew how I felt about you long before I even did?"

Buffy smiled and nodded her head and kissed her deeply. Right as Faith reached the brink of her orgasm, Buffy slid off of her and with a sly smirk playing across her lips she slowly backed up to the door.

"What...Buffy..."

"You were right before when you said we can't do this right now."

"But..."

"Get dressed and I'll try to wake Will up. Once I do, the three of us need to sit down and have a little talk."

"Great," Faith muttered as she slowly sat up on the bed. "Looking forward to it already."

"Sarcasm is not a good tone on you, Faith."

"Whatever."

Buffy blew her a kiss and walked out of the bedroom and closed the door quickly behind her. Faith let out a loud groan as she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes.

It was easier before, easier when it was just an agreement, a simple fuck whenever the need arose. Emotions were in play now, emotions Faith wasn't used to dealing with and in some ways she hated it. She hated feeling the way she did. She hated being in love with Buffy and she hated how no matter what else she felt or what she did, Buffy always had complete control over her. And she hated how she loved everything she hated feeling.

"I'm fucking wrapped around her fingers," she mumbled as she made the effort to get off the bed and get dressed. "Great, just fucking great. See, Lehane? This is what falling in love with Buffy gets you. A whole mix of emotions and none of them make any sense! Jesus...what the fuck did I get myself into?"

Chapter 6: Chapter Six

Author's Notes:

The tension between the three of them was palpable as they sat in Faith's kitchen, nobody saying a single word for the longest time. Willow's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them and every once in awhile she would just sigh and shake her head. Faith only sipped her coffee, her eyes trained solely on Buffy as she waited for one of them to say something. Anything. The silence was deafening and she knew if she said anything, it would cause the shit to hit the fan between her and Willow. Keeping her mouth shut was the only thing she could do and as much of a struggle as it was, she managed to.

"Will..."

"What, Buffy?"

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What do you want me to say?" Willow asked coldly as her eyes drifted over to look at Faith. "I'm not sure how to deal or react with finding out about you two. How long were you going to keep this from me and everyone else?"

"Until I was ready," Buffy whispered. "I wasn't...I'm still not ready to come out to everyone."

"Why? What's the big deal? It's not like nobody saw it coming."

"What?" Buffy exclaimed as her eyes went wide. "Willow, what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. It's just there's been a rumour floating around for awhile, that's all."

Faith chuckled softly as she got up and got herself another cup of coffee. She could feel Willow's eyes burning into her back and she felt a little thankful that Willow had her powers under control or else she'd be worrying about spontaneously combusting right where she stood.

"What rumour?" Buffy asked as soon as Faith sat back down at the table. "Faith, do you know about this?"

"Yeah."

"What?" Buffy groaned. "Oh god. Tell me what they are saying. Please tell me so I can go off and kill myself afterwards."

"Buffy, it's nothing bad," Willow interjected before Faith had a chance to say anything. "Just some of the girls have been saying that they think you are probably a lesbian because you haven't been out on a date for as long as we've been here. They are just talking, stirring up things, trying to find means of entertainment even if it actually turned out to be true."

"It's all too high school," Faith muttered. "You know, with the stupid rumours and stuff. Didn't tell you about it cos I didn't think it was worth getting all upset over."

"Great," Buffy sighed out as she covered her face with her hands.

Faith reached out and rubbed her back, feeling Buffy's tense muscles in her shoulders ripple underneath her fingertips. She ignored the glare she was getting from Willow and moved her chair a little closer to Buffy and draped her arm around her shoulders. With her other hand she pulled Buffy's hands away from her face and made her look at her.

"If it makes you feel any better they've been saying the same things about me. Just shrug it off and roll with it, B."

"Shrug it off and roll with it?" Buffy sighed out exasperatingly as she placed her head down on the table. "Might be easy for you to do that, but me? I don't know if I can deal with this."

"Buffy..." Willow said softly, her entire tone changing as she looked over at Faith. "It isn't the end of the world, you know? So you are gay. Gay with Faith...not that it matters. You are still Buffy. Everyone is still going to love you all the same."

Faith could feel the tension and the worry coming from Buffy. She wasn't sure how to comfort her in a moment like this and with the way Willow kept looking at her she nearly jerked her hand away from Buffy and quickly stood up. The sudden need to have her own space filled her and she walked out to the balcony, leaving the door open as she leaned against the railing and took in a few deep breaths.

Her head was a mess, her emotions toying with her heart and she couldn't deal. She wasn't sure how to deal. She could feel everything Buffy was going through and it bothered her that things had to end up this way. She knew how close her and Willow were and the way that Willow was reacting was normal, or at least as normal as she figured it to be. She grew angry, knowing that Willow had no right to be so judgemental. Sure Buffy was with her and it was a clear and common fact that Willow and the others only tolerated her. They didn't like her. They weren't her friends and they didn't want to see her with Buffy because of her promiscuous past.

A sense of relief came as soon as she heard Buffy saying goodbye to Willow. They shared a few heated words before the door was slammed shut. With a heavy sigh, Faith turned around and walked back inside and found Buffy sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. She was crying, her body shaking with every shuddering gasp as she tried to calm down.

"I can't believe her," Buffy whispered as Faith sat down next to her. "She's only acting like this because it's you."

"Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Sorry for..." Faith sighed as she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. "Sorry for all of this."

"I'm the one who started it. You have nothing to be sorry for. You aren't sorry it all...evolved into something more, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"You've never been a great liar, Faith."

"Not lying to you, Buffy. When I told you I loved you, I meant it. Nothing is gonna make me take that back."

"What are we going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Willow knows. She'll tell everyone."

Faith pulled Buffy in close as the tears continued to fall. "She's not going to say anything to anyone, B. It's not her place nor is it her right to do that and despite how she reacted to finding out about this, about us, she knows that."

"Why do I feel like my life is about to be put under the microscope and everyone is gonna wanna put me in some glass box and gawk at me?"

Faith couldn't help but laugh at that and she winced slightly as Buffy elbowed her hard in the ribs. "What the hell, Buffy? I totally get why you are freaking out right now and that's normal."

"Normal? Why do I feel completely opposite from normal right now then?"

"You are coming out, slowly. You're gonna feel all these different things and none of them are gonna make any sense to you until it's all over and everyone is all `great' and moves on with their lives as if nothing else is different."

"Except the fact that I'm just this big lesbian now."

"Nothing big about you, B, `cept maybe this quirky personality of yours."

"Quirky?!"

"You know exactly what I mean," Faith smiled down at her, resisting the urge to kiss her. It wasn't the time and Buffy feeling the way she was right then, Faith wasn't so sure what to do other than hold her. "Are you still going to stay here with me today?"

"I feel like I don't even want to leave, ever. I don't want to face anyone. Not after facing Willow. God, I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my life to have her walk in and find us like that. There are some things friends should never see and that is one of those things."

"Well," Faith sighed out softly as she kept her arms around Buffy. "You can stay here as long as you want to, but you know you'll have to leave eventually. We both have jobs and lives outside of each other and as much as I would love nothing more than to stay here with you and only venturing out to get food, we can't do that. Gotta face the music sometime, B."

Buffy only nodded as she snuggled in closer to Faith. "Don't want to today."

"But we will tomorrow, bright and early."

"Don't remind me," she groaned as she buried her face into Faith's neck. "How is it you always smell so good?"

"Dunno. I just do."

Buffy sighed as she licked her neck and placed soft nibbling kisses as she moved to straddle her legs. Faith moaned under the assault of Buffy's lips on her neck and she ran her hands up Buffy's thighs and around to her ass, squeezing it lightly. With little effort she stood up, keeping a hold to Buffy as their lips met. She walked to the bedroom slowly, savouring the deep, passionate kiss and the feel of Buffy's legs now wrapped tightly around her. She stopped by the door, making sure this time it was locked and pressed Buffy up against it, deepening the kiss even more as she slipped her hands under her shirt.

Buffy held onto Faith, moaning as Faith's fingers trailed over her stiffening nipples through the thin material of her bra. She gently bit down on Faith's lower lip, panting softly as Faith moved her hands around her back and unclasped her bra effortlessly. She headed for the bedroom slowly, her mind telling her not to rush this. They had all day and all night and hopefully it'd go without anymore interruptions.

"Faith..." Buffy sighed out softly as Faith let her down on her feet as soon as she walked into the bedroom. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? No. Why would you think that?"

"You're...hesitating..."

Faith chuckled as she reached for Buffy's shirt and slid of off quickly. "Hesitating? Nah, I'm just keeping things slow. We always seem to jump into bed and fuck like animals. Sometimes I just wanna..."

"Tease me?"

"Maybe for a little while," Faith shrugged as she let Buffy take off her shirt. "You love it when I tease you, baby."

"Mm-hmm," Buffy nodded as she reached for Faith's pants and pulled her by the waistband towards the bed.

They lost the rest of their clothes before they reached the bed and Faith pulled Buffy down with her as she laid back, kissing her deeply as she just held her close, her hands not bothering to roam, to tease, to pleasure her just yet. She loved just kissing her, feeling her fully against her without it being anything more than that. It was the little things like that Faith had been craving even though for the longest time she didn't know it. The tenderness almost scared her. She was never used to being this way, not with anyone and definitely not with Buffy up until a few days ago. It was a great feeling; one Faith couldn't and didn't want to deny herself from feeling and admitting that she loved more than fucking Buffy.

It was hard for her not to think back to less than a week ago. How none of the emotions she was feeling now were even there. She wasn't stupid though, she knew they were there, that maybe they always were and she'd just ignored them as best as she could. She'd noticed the changes in Buffy too and the longer she thought about it, that's when she knew Buffy had been feeling differently about their arrangement long before they even talked about things.

"Faith?" Buffy pulled back and looked at her questionably. "What are you thinking about right now?"

"Lots of things."

"Like what?"

"Just thinking about us, B. This feels so...surreal now."

"Is it freaking you out?"

"No."

Buffy stole a quick kiss and smiled down at her. "Good. That's the last thing I want to happen right now is for you to start freaking out and for you to run."

"I love you, B. I'm sure as fuck not gonna run from this or from you even when I do start freaking out a little bit. You're stuck with me."

"For how long?"

"For as long as you'll have me," Faith whispered, smiling as she ran her fingers through Buffy's hair. The soft, gentle and sweet side of her was still a bit of a shock and she could see Buffy was seeing and feeling that too.

"If I tell you that I want you forever, will you stay?"

"Yes. I'd be a damn idiot if I said no."

"Good because I wasn't going to let you go even if you didn't want this."

"Buffy," Faith smiled at her as their eyes met and locked in an intense, loving gaze. "Call me crazy, but I'd marry you if I could. Yeah, this coming from me, commitment phobia and all. I want you, I love you and I never want to spend more than a minute apart from you sometimes. Never thought I'd fall in love with anyone, you know? Never thought I'd feel this way, never thought I'd turn into such a fucking sap that it makes me feel like someone has done a body swap with me."

Buffy chuckled as she moved to lay her head on Faith's chest, her fingers idly running up and down her arm. "I never thought I'd feel this way about you either. Funny how life can change over a year, isn't it?"

"For sure."

"Are you hungry?" Buffy asked, leaning back up a little to look at her again. "Or do you just want to lay here all naked for awhile?"

"Was thinking of laying here all naked for awhile then making love to you then cooking us some breakfast, or lunch, possibly dinner. Depends on how long it takes for me to finish showing you how much you mean to me."

"This is crazy," Buffy said under her breath. "You are crazy."

"Why? Cos I'm crazy in love with you?"

"You're too sweet. When did this happen?"

"When you told me you loved me, something inside me clicked. Dunno, B. Can't explain these things and I don't know if I want to try. Seems like too much thinking to me."

They lay there in comfortable silence for awhile, sharing a few soft, sweet kisses here and there. Faith was fighting to stop feeling so conflicted with herself and her feelings. Everything she never thought she'd ever have was right there in her arms. Everything she was so afraid of before surrounded her with warmth and a sense of security she'd never felt before. There was only one thing she found herself fast becoming afraid of. Every time in her life she always got what she wanted, something came around and took it away from her.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky the apartment grew hotter and sticky. Buffy was a tad uncomfortable and Faith could just feel it coming off of her as she lay there next to her, their arms and legs tangled together. Faith groaned as she moved Buffy off of her and slid out of bed and drew the heavy drapes shut, hoping to eliminate some of the heat coming in through the window. Faith turned to look at Buffy lying on her bed, staring right back up at her. Even in the now darkened room she could see the lustful haze in her eyes. It sent a jolt of electricity and excitement through her body as she got back into bed, hovering over Buffy as she stared deeply into her eyes.

"Can't it always be like this?" Buffy asked as she pulled Faith down on her.

"Be like what? Us naked?"

"No," Buffy laughed as she ran her hands down Faith's back slowly. "Well, yeah that's a good plus, but like can't it always be comfortable between us?"

"Thought it was?"

"I don't know," she sighed as she shook her head. "I think I've just been thinking too much today. Everything is different now and yet it's not. When I'm with you I don't think about anything else or the consequences of holing ourselves up like this will be."

"We don't have to stay here all the time. We could always go to your place for a little change."

"Are you crazy?!" Buffy laughed as she playfully slapped Faith's ass. "Dawn lives there too. I don't think even if she was okay with us being together that she'd want to hear us go at it all night long. The walls are pretty thin and then there's the fact..."

Faith stopped her from continuing, her libido suddenly taking control over her thoughts and her emotions. The heat was getting to both of them and she knew that was one of the most plausible explanations she could come up with at the moment. She could think of nothing else other than devouring Buffy, worshipping every inch of her until Buffy begged her to stop. She kissed her lightly, not lingering at her lips for long as she kissed her way down Buffy's neck, her body sliding down against hers with ease.

"You know something, B?"

"What?"

"Payback is a bitch for what you did to me earlier," she smirked as she leaned in and roughly bit her left nipple and it caused Buffy to moan and cry out. "Did you really think I'd let that go and forget about it?"

"Faith..."

"What, B?"

"Just fuck me...make love to me...I can't..."

Faith smirked as she ran her tongue over the soft curves of Buffy's breast, teasing every inch of skin she could. "Can't what?"

"You're driving me crazy."

"You always drive me crazy."

"Faith, shut up."

"Make me."

It turned into a battle of who could come out as the strongest. Faith didn't care when Buffy ended up on top with her hands pinning her arms against the bed as they kissed furiously. She didn't even care that it turned nearly violently passionate between them. The fire coursing through her body filled her like a drug and she knew she'd never get enough of the way Buffy would take control and do things her way. The Slayer inside of both of them took over in times like this and it'd been awhile since they'd been this way together. Sweet, tender and passionate lovemaking could come afterwards. Faith was too fired up and writhing under Buffy as she licked and sucked on her neck to think of anything else.

Buffy stopped suddenly, stilling her entire body as looked up at Faith. She ran her fingers over the fresh love bites on Faith's neck lightly, something different filling the lustful haze in her eyes as she watched her fingers dance over the raw, tender flesh.

"I'm sorry...I..."

"Buffy?" Faith reached up and gently cupped her face with her hands. "Never be sorry. You know I like it rough sometimes."

"I thought...it wouldn't be...not after..."

"Buffy, its okay. Why are you getting so upset? Don't cry," Faith said softly, her voice cracking slightly as she ran her thumb over Buffy's cheek as the tears began to fall. "Shit, come here, B."

Faith held her close, letting her cry into her neck as she gently stoked her hair and her back in an attempt to calm her down. If she didn't know any better she'd think Buffy was fighting her own internal struggle. She knew she was. She could feel it when she focused solely on their connection. It made her feel just a little bit better knowing she wasn't the only one fighting a losing battle with herself. She wouldn't have to go through it alone and neither would Buffy.

Too many mixed emotions were flowing through both of them and the heat of the moment was definitely gone as Buffy shuddered and tried to stop her tears. It wasn't going to be easy if they were going to have a semi-normal relationship. It was going to be so far from being easy that it'd always be a struggle. But Faith knew that despite it all, it'd be worth it. She'd fight to the ends of the earth and beyond for Buffy. She'd lay her life out for Buffy. She didn't own her own heart any longer as it belonged completely to Buffy now. She sighed as she fought back her own tears, keeping her eyes closed as she tried to calm the raging hormones firing through her body.

Ignoring the thought that maybe things would be better if they kept their relationship a secret indefinitely, she felt the exhaustion take over her. It wasn't normal to feel so fired up and raring to go one minute and mentally exhausted the next, but then again nothing was ever normal for either of them. She fought with it, grappled and battled it until she gave up, knowing it was one of those internal fights she'd never win no matter how hard she tried.

Buffy finally stopped crying and pulled back and lightly kissed her, whispering against her lips that she'd be back. Faith nodded, keeping her eyes closed as she felt the warmth of Buffy's body leave hers. She didn't fall asleep as she listened to Buffy walk out of the bedroom and a moment later she heard her dialling a number on her cell. Faith could only sigh out as she heard Buffy talk to Willow. She should have known that she'd be a mess after the way things exploded earlier. She hated how her and Buffy's relationship had put a rather huge strain on her friendship with Willow.

It was the last thing Faith wanted to come from all of this. She knew how much Buffy's friends meant to her. She didn't even want to begin to think of how Dawn would react either. It wouldn't be good. None of it would.

Chapter 7: Chapter Seven

Author's Notes: This little chapter was hiding away on my harddrive...I forgot about it, but definitely not about this story...in case anyone was worried about that :)

Faith woke up alone in her bed early the next morning. She listened to the sound of the rain pattering against the window and sighed as she reached out to the empty side of the bed, the sheets still warm. Buffy was still there, she could feel her and hear her out in the kitchen. She just wanted to wake up in her arms. She wanted to kiss her good morning and start the day off right.

She'd never wanted anything like that before and everything had changed over the last couple of days. After yesterday and last night, she was more afraid she'd lose Buffy due to her fears than she ever had been before. Buffy dealing with Willow about the nature of their relationship was one thing and her dealing with everyone else was next to impossible. Faith knew how scared she was. How afraid and almost alone she felt.

"Buffy?" Faith called out, not moving from the bed. "Are you coming back?"

"In a minute, Faith."

She sighed as she got up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom, watching as Buffy washed the dishes in the sink. "You don't have to do that."

"I do. It's keeping my mind off of everything."

"It'll be okay, B. Everyone will get over it eventually."

"What if they don't?"

Faith wrapped her arms around her from behind and sighed. "They will cos they are your friends, your family and they love you."

"I wish I felt better about this whole thing. It's...crazy."

"Love is crazy, B. Thought you knew that by now?" Faith chuckled as she kissed the side of her head and waited for her to turn around before she kissed her lightly on the lips. "We got a couple hours before we need to head out. I know one way we can pass the time."

"Faith..."

"I meant by getting some more sleep," she smiled. "It's not always about sex."

"It has been with us."

"Doesn't always have to be though."

"Did you hit your head when you fell off the bed last night?" Buffy laughed as she poked her in the stomach.

"Not that I know of."

"As much as I'd love to crawl back into bed with you, I'm not tired anymore. I couldn't sleep even if I forced myself. I'm dreading facing everyone today. I know by now that Willow has told everyone."

"It's not her place to say anything so why would she go and tell everyone about us?"

"Because it's Willow! She's pissed. She overreacts when she's pissed!"

"What do you want to do then, B?"

"I don't know," she sighed as she fought back her tears. "I want this with you, I want it so bad and I want it to work between us. If Willow is against us because it's you I am with I can just imagine how Dawnie is going to react. Xander probably won't care and Giles will be Giles and change the subject because it makes him uncomfortable."

"Or he'll tell us not to go out on patrol together."

"Faith, I think we should...take it easy until this blows over," Buffy said softly as she trailed her fingers over Faith's back slowly before backing away. "We shouldn't spend too much time together until everything is okay again."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"No! I am not breaking up with you! Did you just hear what I said?"

"So, you want to take a break? Is that what you're saying?"

"Faith, please," Buffy sighed as she cupped her face in her hands and forced her to look at her. "I'm just saying maybe things would be easier if we didn't spend too much time together. I'm not saying it has to be a lot of time, I just...I need a couple of days."

Faith sighed as she breathed in and out slowly, trying to keep herself from getting too angry. Everything had happened so fast, so soon with the feelings and the fact that they were in an actual relationship and it wasn't just a fuck between two friends. She didn't want to go without seeing Buffy for more than a day. She wasn't sure she could handle it. She'd become emotionally attached to her and spending the entire day and night with her had just made her want to hold on and never let go.

"God, B. You have no idea what this has done to me."

"What?"

"I'm like...clingy," she faltered as she shook her head. "I don't do clingy and that's all I want to do right now. I want to hold you and never let go."

"I am still a little surprised to see this side of you," she smiled softly as she walked up to her and wrapped her arms around Faith's neck. "I do like this side of you. It's different. It's sweet. I knew I loved you for a reason."

"You mean you love me aside from the fact that you can dominate me?" Faith asked, trying to keep a straight face as Buffy laughed. "The last year has been one hell of a ride, B. Even if it didn't evolve into this, I don't know...I think I still would feel the same way about you. I would have just kept denying it, pushing it aside cos that's what I've always done."

"I'm glad you stopped being like that and the last year was rather surreal. You've shown me sides of myself I hadn't seen since...since that thing with Spike."

Faith groaned softly at the mention of Spike. She hated that Buffy would even think of him now. But she knew Buffy was right. She had shown sides of herself she hadn't since she was with Spike. The raw sexual nature inside of her was unleashed when she was with Faith and she never held herself back nor did she ever try to limit herself. It was that side of Buffy that kept Faith hanging on, needing and wanting more for the year they were fucking each other senseless.

She pulled her in for a kiss, not wanting to talk anymore. The talking was making her head spin out of control with thoughts she didn't want to have so early in the morning. She just wanted to forget everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours and lose herself within Buffy like she always had before everything had turned into a hell of a lot more.

She craved what they had before, before the feelings took over and complicated everything. She craved the unrelenting need she'd always felt when Buffy took control. She craved her touch, her kiss. She craved it all.

"Faith..." Buffy sighed out as she broke away from the kiss. "We shouldn't...we have to go soon..."

"Never stopped you before," she whispered as she pulled off the t-shirt Buffy was wearing, her lips instantly wrapped around a hard nipple and her fingers gripping Buffy's hips and her thumbs toying with the waistband of her panties.

She slowly pulled away from her nipple, trailing her tongue across her breasts and up to her neck as she began pulling Buffy out of the kitchen. Buffy kept pulling away from her slightly, trying to get her attention as she pulled Buffy towards the bathroom. She stopped and slid Buffy's panties down, sighing as she deftly ran her fingers along the insides of her thighs.

"Faith...we shouldn't. We'll be late and we both need to shower."

"Where you think I'm taking us?" Faith asked with a smirk as she opened the bathroom door and pulled Buffy in with her.

"God," Buffy groaned as Faith slid her fingers over her clit and backed her up against the door as it clicked shut. "This wasn't what I meant when we should take it easy."

"I know."

"I lose all sense of control with you," she sighed out as Faith slid a finger slowly inside of her, feeling her shake and melt under her touch. "It's dangerous. I can't ever lose control."

"Let yourself go once in awhile, B. It feels good. Trust me."

"I always let myself go with you."

Faith stopped from kissing her, just inches from her lips and breathed out heavily. She was trying to take them back to where it had been before and she was failing because there was no way they could go back to the way it was. Buffy was letting her fears take over her and she'd changed completely ever since the confrontation with Willow. In the back of her mind she wished that they had never been caught or else Buffy wouldn't be acting like this and they'd be back to where it was before, fucking each other without a damn care in the world and without any other thoughts roaming in their minds when they should just be focusing on each other.

"I love how you let yourself go with me, B. I know you are afraid right now too, scared shitless, but it's okay. I'll be here for you at the end of the day. I have been since this started. Nothing is going to change that."

She pushed a second finger inside of Buffy, gripping Buffy's right leg and lifting it up and wrapped it around her hips. She watched as Buffy closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the door, thoroughly enjoying Faith as she slowly fucked her nice and deep. Her fingers gripped onto Buffy's thigh, holding her firmly where she was as she brought her to orgasm. She knew how to touch her, how to bring a fast and intense orgasm within a matter of minutes. She just wanted Buffy to lose herself for those few minutes. To lift the guard she'd put up around her.

"Faith..." she sighed out contentedly as she gripped onto her shoulders. "Oh god..."

"Let yourself go, B."

"Shit," she groaned out as her legs nearly gave out from under her.

Faith kissed her then, silencing her moans of pleasure as Buffy came hard against her fingers. They stood there for a few minutes, kissing and breathing heavily and clutching onto each other. It was like they were holding onto the moment and that was exactly what Faith was trying to do. She had the sinking feeling that as soon as they walked out of her apartment, these moments would be hard to come across. She pulled back from the kiss, smiling at Buffy as she let go of her leg and brought both her hands to cup her face gently.

"We should shower and get going."

"Faith I think we should..."

"Should what?" Faith asked as she turned on the water in the shower and turned to look at her. "You are gonna say we should talk, right? Don't you think we've done enough talking?"

"No I..."

"Save it, Buffy. I know you're dealing with this the best you can right now and if you need space and time apart from me, I can deal. I don't want to, but I will."

"I wish this could be easier."

"It would be easier if you just didn't care what everyone else thinks of you, Buffy."

"It's hard," she sighed as she stood behind Faith, watching her as she leaned in to check the temperature of the water. "You know I want nothing more than to be with you. I love you. I love every bit of you. I love all these different sides of you that you've shown me. I wish they could see the sides I see of you sometimes."

"Not the naked sides I hope."

"No," Buffy laughed. "Willow saw more than enough of that yesterday."

"Definitely was weird having her walk in on us like that."

"Weird? How about embarrassing!"

"Whatever, B. It's over now. You weren't acting like this yesterday. What the hell changed?"

Buffy shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know. I had a lot of time to think while you slept last night. It's changed a lot more than we think it has."

"Was it better when we were just fucking cos of our little agreement? Was it better when I was nothing but your dirty little secret you could come crawling to every night?"

"No it was not better! Faith, I don't want to fight about this. It's useless."

"No fucking kidding. God," she sighed as she stepped into the shower and held the curtain open for Buffy to step in with her. "I had no idea it would get so fucking complicated, B. I'd do anything to make this all feel right. I can't change the way your friends look at me and I can't change how you feel about telling them about us. I just want..."

"What do you want?"

"I want something real, something normal for once in my life. I want people to see I am not the same Faith they always used to know. I want them to see how much I love you and care about you. I want them to see how you make me feel, not you know, in the naked ways."

Buffy smiled as she stepped under the steady stream of water and pulled Faith under with her. "They'll see it eventually, Faith. I keep telling myself Willow is just overreacting not just because it's you, but because I'm..."

"Gay now?"

"Yes," she sighed softly. "I hate this."

"You think I don't?"

"We've been living in this little fantasy bubble for too long, first just with the fucking whenever we wanted to and now with knowing how we really feel about each other. I knew it was too good to last. I don't want this to end. I really don't. I just think it's going to be really hard for a long time and we won't be happy."

"What do you think we should do then?"

"Take it one day at a time," she replied as she slid her arms around Faith's waist. "It's all we can do, right?"

"It's all we've been doing. Let's just shower, get dressed and head down to Headquarters. We got a busy day ahead of us. If we can get through today in one piece, we'll talk about this later."

"Okay."

They shared one last kiss and they both fought the urges to touch each other as they quickly showered. They said not another word to one another as they dressed and left the apartment together. Faith was just trying to push back the recent memories and was trying to prepare herself for whatever they were about to walk into.

****

The rain wasn't letting up and Faith had no choice but to take a cab with Buffy down to Headquarters. They were late, only by a few minutes, and Giles was waiting for them at the front door as soon as they got out of the cab. He didn't look very pleased with either of them and he motioned for the two of them to follow him into his office. Faith reached for Buffy's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before she let go and followed Giles into his office.

"Giles..." Buffy started to speak but he held his hand up, quieting her before she said another word.

"I know you two needed a day off, but it would have been more responsible if you had cleared the day with me first."

"Is this what you are pissed about?" Faith asked as she sat down on the couch and tried to relax. "You're pissed cos me and B took a day off?"

"No, I am pissed because of what Willow told me."

Buffy sat on the opposite end of the couch and lowered her head, hoping to hide the blush from Faith and Giles, but it was too late. Faith had seen it and she was now fighting her own urge to sit closer to her, to comfort her and be her shoulder to cry on when Giles told them he didn't think it was wise for the two of them to be involved.

"What did she tell you?" Faith asked, bracing herself for the absolute worse.

"I had no idea you two were..."

"G, it's not like..."

"Please listen to what I have to say and then I will listen to the both of you. I am not upset or angry or about to throw the two of you out because of the nature of your relationship. I am just pissed, as you say, because I had to find out from a very angry Willow about you two. To say that I was and still am surprised just about covers it. I also must say that the way Willow has been reacting over finding out about the two of you is rather childish. If anything, she should be happy for both of you and not judging Buffy because she is with you, Faith."

Buffy looked up at him, wiping away the few tears that had fallen. "Seriously, Giles?"

"I am very serious. You two mean a lot to me and I was beginning to think you would never find the happiness and the love you both deserve to have. I understand why you two would keep this from all of us and based on Willow's reaction, I believe the others will react in the same manner."

"And why are you taking this so well?" Faith asked. "I mean, aside from what you just said."

"I would not want to stand in the way of either of you finding that happiness and love you've both longed to have. To find it with each other, I always wondered if something like this would happen. You two are very different and very much alike. Were you planning on keeping this between yourselves without having anyone put two and two together?"

"He's taking this a little too well," Buffy said softly as she looked over at Faith. "Do you think we should check and make sure he isn't under some kind of delirious spell or something?"

"I don't know. It's Giles. Never understood the guy," Faith whispered and she looked over at Giles and smiled widely. "You know I mean that in the best way possible, right?"

"I might have overreacted irrationally when Willow came to tell me yesterday. I had time to think about things, to think about where we have all ended up. I've seen you two happier than I've ever seen you and up until yesterday I had no idea why. I thought maybe it was simply because life has finally become stable, or as stable as it possibly can be in this situation."

"He's rambling. He's delirious," Buffy muttered under her breath.

"I am not delirious and I am rambling because I was not sure how to approach this situation. Let's call it a little bit of...ahem...liquid courage."

"You are drunk!" Buffy exclaimed as she stared at him wide eyed. "At nine in the morning?!"

"Its happy hour somewhere in the world," he chuckled. "Oh, don't give me that. I was only joking."

"You wanted to talk to us about our relationship, right? Is that all you wanted to talk to us about?" Faith asked, finding her voice and hoping she hadn't said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"I wanted to talk to you about your relationship because of how Willow has been reacting. I have tried to talk to her rationally. She won't calm down. I'm actually in fact rather afraid of the consequences that will come from her anger."

"She hasn't told anyone else, has she?" Buffy asked softly, her eyes brimming with tears that had yet to fall.

"Yes, the whole bloody school knows," Giles replied and rolled his eyes. "No, she has not said a word to anyone else as far as I know. You really are...afraid of anyone knowing, aren't you?"

"I am," Buffy said with a choked sob.

"It does not make you any less of a person, Buffy. I look at you now just as I always have, with love and admiration that only a father would have for his daughter," he said softly as he walked over and sat in between the two of them on the couch. "You two both have a special place in my heart and you always will. It doesn't matter who you are or who you are in love with. The only thing I've ever wanted for both of you is to be happy."

"I am happy," Buffy said softly, looking past him and smiling at Faith. "Really happy in fact."

"Now that all has been said and done," he sighed as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is the nature of your relationship? Willow seems to think Faith is using you."

"We're in love," Buffy smiled, no longer fearing the greater outcome of it all. "I don't know how I feel about you talking to us about this. It feels...weird to say to the least, Giles. I know you care about both of us, but why are you getting involved?"

"You do need someone to support the two of you don't you not?"

Buffy nodded as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. I can't tell you how much this means to me that you aren't reacting the way Willow did."

Faith stood up slowly, feeling like she needed to give the two of them time to talk alone. Buffy looked up at her and they both smiled. A simple, unsaid understanding. Faith grabbed a copy of the revised patrol schedule on the way out of his office and she scanned over it quickly, smirking when she saw her and Buffy's name written down for patrol that night. She scanned over the rest of the week and it was the same. She had patrol with Buffy every night, no thanks to Giles and his surprising acceptance of their relationship.

She folded the paper and slid it into her back pocket as she headed down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. It was nearly deserted when she walked in. She wasn't surprised to see Willow and Kennedy sitting at the far table by the large windows, talking quietly. She bypassed the kitchen and sat down across the table from the two of them. Willow was clearly upset and she only scoffed when she looked over at Faith.

"I need to talk to you," Faith said gently and she motioned to Kennedy to stay when she moved to get up and walk away. "I know you are upset and angry and all that, Will. I get why. It's me. I know that. I need you to give me a chance. Let me show you I've changed and that what I feel for Buffy is genuine. I am not going to hurt her."

Kennedy only smiled as she gently rubbed Willow's back, trying to stop the flood of tears that followed. If anything, Faith needed to make things okay and she had to start with Willow if she had a fighting chance with any of the others. If her and Buffy's relationship was going to work, she had to make her friends see what she felt for Buffy was real. If they couldn't see it, she'd keep trying.

Damn all the consequences that followed. She was determined to have a piece of happiness for once.

Chapter 8: Chapter Eight

Author's Notes:

Willow just stared at her, the tears slowly coming to a stop as she waited for Faith to say something. Faith wasn't so sure what to say, all she knew was she had to figure out a way to talk to Willow about her and Buffy's relationship and make her see that the way she was reacting over it was incredulously stupid.

"I know how you feel about me, how you look at me and still see who you used to know," she started out slowly, the words easily finding their way out. "I know you can't see past who I used to be, but I can promise you one thing. I'm not who you think I am."

"Faith I..."

"Willow, can you just let me talk, please?" Faith asked, trying not to sound as irritated as she felt. "I know you're probably worried I'll cheat on Buffy, that I'll break her heart and all that. We've been together for a year now and not once have I been with anyone else, much less even thought of being with anyone else. Asking you to give me the benefit of a doubt is a lot and I get that, I just want you to try."

Willow sighed out slowly as she looked at Kennedy for a moment then looked back over at Faith. "You've been faithful to Buffy the whole time you two were together?"

"Yeah."

"I...that's kind of hard to believe..."

"I know it is," Faith snapped and she breathed in and out heavily, steadily, trying to calm herself down. She needed to keep her cool if she wanted to prove that she'd changed. "But I swear to you I've only been with Buffy since our agreement started and now that it's more than that, I don't want her friends to be completely against what we have together. You get what I'm saying?"

"I'm not completely against it, I just...it's you, Faith. I never saw this coming!" Willow exclaimed as she shrugged Kennedy's hands off of her shoulders. "I know you've changed. I know you aren't the same person you used to be and that you won't ever be. I know you and Buffy have become close, not just in the sexual way, but as friends too. I guess I'm just a little..."

"Jealous?" Faith offered and she chuckled when Willow only nodded her head. "I get that, Red. You and Buffy have been friends for a long time."

"She kept this from me."

"She kept it from everyone."

"Because of you?"

"No," Faith replied as she shook her head no. "She's afraid to come out of the closet, as you know. She's afraid of what everyone is going to think because of who she is and because of who she is with. It shouldn't have to be this way."

"No, it really shouldn't. I feel like a complete idiot," Willow muttered as she frowned. "I shouldn't have...I'm sorry about all of this, Faith."

"You should apologize to Buffy, not me, but you are forgiven."

"Just like that?"

"What can I say, Red? Changed woman and all that here. Besides, you're Buffy's best friend and I gotta get into your good books somehow, right?" Faith smirked as Willow let out a soft laugh. "I just want everything to be okay, not just for Buffy, but for all of us. We didn't fight the First and win to let stupid, petty shit make us unhappy and destroy our lives and friendships and relationships."

Willow stood up and walked around the table and yanked Faith up from her chair abruptly and gave her a tight hug. "If you really do love her and you make her happy, then I'll try to be happy for both of you."

"Thanks, Red."

"And Faith?" Willow smiled a little as she pulled away from the hug and took a few steps back. "If you do hurt her, you'll regret it."

She nodded, knowing not to even question what Willow would do if she ever hurt Buffy. She wouldn't dream of hurting her, she couldn't. She was in love with Buffy and she wanted nothing more than to show her how much each and every day. She left Willow and Kennedy there in the cafeteria and made her way to the locker room, ready to start the day off right with a couple hours of hard training.

There were a few girls there, standing around and whispering when Faith walked in. She ignored them and quickly changed into her training clothes and headed for the training room. It was packed, as usual and she spotted Buffy over by what she knew was Buffy's favourite punching bag. It was by the window and the soft sunlight that streamed in made her skin glisten. Ignoring some of the girls who greeted her as she walked past, she grabbed onto the punching bag and smiled at Buffy as she broke out of her trance.

"Hey," she said softly, fighting the urge to lean over and kiss Buffy. "Got started without me, huh?"

"I...yes," Buffy replied shyly as she looked around and found all eyes on them. her eyes were searching Faith's the moment she looked back at her and she took in a deep breath as she stepped forward and placed a light kiss upon her lips. "Where were you?"

"Had a little talk with Willow."

"You..."

"It's okay, B. I sorted shit out with her, is all. At least I think I did. After all was said and done she hugged me then threatened me, so I think we're cool now."

Buffy laughed as she began punching the bag, her eyes never leaving Faith's for more than a split second. She didn't even seem to care that the others were still watching them, some of them standing there in slight shock over the small, chaste kiss Buffy had given Faith in plain view. Faith was trying to keep her cool, trying not to feel a little surprised and shocked she'd done it too. She had to wonder if maybe Buffy was starting to feel a little braver, a little bolder and perhaps ready to really come out and be who she really was.

They switched after about ten minutes and Faith felt the rush of every punch and kick she made against the bag. Once she felt loose and felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she and Buffy moved to the mats and began to stretch out. Still, their eyes never broke their intense gaze and Faith felt a surge of arousal go through her body as Buffy slowly licked her lips and smiled that little half smile that always melted her heart. They waited until they were alone there in the training room before they began to spar.

"Come on, B. Don't hold back, show me what you got," Faith taunted as Buffy threw a lazy kick her way and Faith grabbed onto her leg and pulled her close.

Buffy smirked as she managed to hook her leg around Faith and the sudden, unexpected move caused Faith to fall back onto the mats with Buffy on top of her. Faith let her hands trail over Buffy's bare legs, stopping when she reached the edge of her shorts.

"You're killing me, B."

"I'm killing you? How?"

"All I want right now is to touch you," Faith breathed out as Buffy reached between them and pulled at the top of Faith's pants. "We got about ten minutes before the next session, right?"

"Give or take," Buffy groaned softly as Faith deftly slid her hand up the leg of her shorts and ran her fingers along her pussy, feeling how wet she was through her thin cotton panties. "No time for teasing, Faith."

"I know, babe," she replied as she pulled her down with her other hand for a deep kiss.

Her fingers worked their way into her panties and she teased over Buffy's already throbbing clit with her thumb as she slipped two fingers inside of her gently. She knew they couldn't take it slow, but she couldn't take Buffy hard and fast right now. She just wanted to feel, to make Buffy come slow, to feel her as she came against her fingers. Buffy had other ideas as she rolled her hips into Faith's hand, pleading for more as she kissed her even deeper. Faith rolled them over, getting better leverage being on top and drove a third finger hard inside of her hot, wet cunt.

Buffy's first orgasm came quick, quicker than Faith expected. She was worked up from working out and tense from everything that had unfolded over the last couple of days. Faith moved her lips from Buffy's and down across her neck, fucking her nice and deep as she sucked on her pulse point and felt Buffy grip at her shoulders, her short nails digging into her skin as Faith continuing thrusting her fingers in and out of her cunt hard and fast.

"Touch me. Fuck me," Faith breathed into her ear, slowing her fingers down to a near stop as she sucked in a breath as Buffy ran her hand the length of her body and snaked it into her pants.

"You're..."

"Commando, babe," Faith smirked as she lifted her head to look down at her. "Maybe you should've gone without too. So fucking wet."

Buffy groaned and whimpered softly as she gripped Faith's hip with one hand as she slid two fingers inside of her easily. Faith felt her body tense then relax as they fucked each other in time, staring into each other's eyes as their breathing grew heavy, ragged.

They both came to nearly a stop as both their bodies tensed at the same time. Faith felt what felt like a monster orgasm beginning to flow through her body and she let out a small gasp as she let herself go, feeling Buffy's body react to hers and her own orgasm quickly followed. They didn't stop. Their lips crashed together, kissing each other without abandon as they continued to fuck each other deep and slow, riding out their orgasms for as long as they could manage.

Faith slid her hand from the tight confines of Buffy's shorts, smiling down at her as she pulled away from the kiss. Buffy smiled sexily back up at her, slipping her fingers out from her pulsating core and flicking her sensitive clit before pulling her hand out from her pants. They laid there, foreheads pressed together, eyes locked in an intense gaze as they tried to catch their breath, their bodies still shaking from the intensity of it all despite how quick and fast they'd come together.

Faith rolled off of Buffy then, laying on the mats next to her and stared up at the ceiling. She smiled, mostly to herself as she brought her fingers to her mouth and languidly licked off Buffy's arousal from her fingers. She turned her head slowly, finding Buffy watching her with her eyes glazed over with lust and desire.

"You want more, don't you?" Faith breathed out, her breath still coming out in short, sharp bursts. "Gonna have to give me a minute here."

"I do want more, but we don't have time," Buffy replied softly as she motioned to the clock on the wall by the door. "That was...intense though."

"Isn't it always?"

"Oh yeah," Buffy smiled as she reached for the front of Faith's shirt and pulled her in for a lazy yet passionate kiss. Faith moved and leapt to her feet, straightening out her clothes before reaching down for Buffy's hand and pulling her to her feet. "I'll uh, see you later? Before patrol?"

"Count on it, B."

She gave her one last kiss, reaching around and giving her ass a gentle squeeze before she walked off towards the locker room to have a nice long hot shower before she had to spend the rest of the afternoon having a meeting with Giles, Kennedy and a handful of the younger slayers that had been causing trouble there at Headquarters for the last month. Even though all she had on her mind was fucking Buffy, she had to clear her head and fast.

****

Faith stood outside of Headquarters about a half hour after the impossibly long meeting. She took a drag of her cigarette, inhaling deeply as she leaned against the wall and watched as the last of the girls left for the day. It being Friday night, most of the girls that lived there headed out for the night if they weren't scheduled for patrol. In a way Faith was envious of them. She hated having patrol on a Friday night, but having it with Buffy only meant one thing. Sex and lots of it. Her body was already getting worked up just thinking about it and she flinched when she heard Buffy and Xander's voice drift out the main doors.

"You and Faith have patrol tonight?" Xander asked as they stepped outside and he smiled over at Faith as Buffy nodded her head. "You two wouldn't want to join me for a quick dinner before you head out, would you? I really hate going out alone on a Friday night. Makes me look like some kind of single loser."

"You aren't a loser, Xander," Buffy said sympathetically as she gave him a hug. "I'd love to, but I sort of have plans for...with Faith."

"Like a date?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, like a date," Faith interjected and moved to slip her arm casually around Buffy's waist. "You got a problem with that?"

"Who me?" Xander managed to squeak out as Buffy slid her own arm around Faith's waist, bringing them as close together as they could be. "You and...on a date and..."

"And?" Buffy laughed shyly as she looked at Faith, both of them wondering how they just slipped into this situation as if it was the most perfectly natural thing in the world for them.

"I repeat do you have a problem with that?" Faith asked, smirking at Xander as he stood there completely flabbergasted.

"Nope. No problem at all," he muttered quickly as he busied his hands readjusting his eye patch. "Wait. A date. With each other?"

"You just catching on now, Xander?" Faith laughed as she shook her head.

"You...both are going on a date...with each other?" He asked slowly, blinking as his mouth gaped open and shut at the realization. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Faith nodded.

"I uh...wow. Don't know what to say to that," he blushed as he looked over at Buffy. "You didn't tell me that you and Faith were...and that you are..."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said quietly. "It's all still sorts of new, the dating Faith thing."

Faith waited for him to freak out, to react the way Willow had, but it never came. He just pulled them both in for a hug and quickly pulled away, a goofy looking smile on his face as he looked back and forth between them. Faith leaned in to Buffy, smiling as she watched Xander's eye go wide out of the corner of her eye.

"I think he's in shock," she whispered into her ear. "Should we just leave him here or just take up on his offer to get dinner?"

"What about..."

"Plenty of time before we need to get out on patrol, B. Plenty of time to be alone too," she whispered, her lips barely grazing Buffy's ear before she pulled back. "Xander, we'll take you up on your offer on dinner with one condition?"

"What's that?"

"You're paying," Faith smirked, wincing slightly as Buffy pinched her stomach. "What was that for, B?"

"You know for what," she said quietly enough so Xander wouldn't hear her.

"Well, ladies," he smiled brightly as he motioned towards his car. "Shall we?"

Buffy nodded, grumbling under her breath as Faith reached for her hand and they followed Xander into the parking lot to his car. "You are impossible, you know that?" Buffy growled under her breath as they both climbed in the backseat.

"I may be impossible, but you love me regardless," Faith whispered, quickly stealing a kiss before Xander got into the car. "I'll make it up to you, B."

"I have no doubt about that."

Faith chuckled as she leaned back in the seat, watching Xander as he readjusted the review mirror and snuck a glance back at the two of them. She was in fact feeling rather relieved that Xander was so accepting of finding out about them. It didn't surprise her though. There'd been many times when he'd hinted at the fact that they should be together and getting all sweaty and not meaning in the training way either. She was grateful at least someone was so accepting of her and Buffy's relationship. It seemed to put Buffy at ease and she had a small smile upon her lips as Faith turned to look at her and stole one last kiss before pulling away and making a silent promise to herself to keep her hands and her lips to herself until they were alone.

****

Buffy slammed her hard against the apartment door before she even had the chance to get the keys out of her pocket. Faith moaned into her mouth, pulling Buffy's body hard into her own. After having an hour long dinner with Xander at the local pizza place, along with a quick fuck in the bathroom before the food had gotten on the table, she was worked up beyond belief and all she wanted was Buffy, naked and writhing beneath her.

"Babe, hold up," Faith groaned as she pulled back from Buffy's insistent lips. "Don't need to give any of my neighbours a show."

Buffy sighed out in frustration as she dug her hand into Faith's front pocket of her jeans and pulled out her keys. Finding the one that unlocked the door, she gave her a kiss as she fumbled to slide the key into the lock. As soon as the door was open, Faith grabbed the keys from Buffy and tossed them on the table and backed them up into the apartment and kicked the door shut.

Faith smiled against her lips as Buffy thrust her hard against the door, her hands instantly fumbling with her belt and then the button and zipper of her jeans. Faith grabbed both her hands and pulled them away and reached under her ass and lifted her up, never once breaking the kiss as she made her way to the bedroom. She kicked off her boots before she laid Buffy down on the bed and taking a deep, steady breath, she began to slowly remove Buffy's clothes starting with her shoes.

"Faith..."

"Patience, B."

"God, I fucking need you so badly right now," she whimpered as she sat up and quickly removed her own shirt and unclasped her bra. Faith undid her jeans and yanked them off, staring down at her as Buffy lay back on the bed in only her black panties.

Faith slowly, teasingly removed her clothes, her eyes not once leaving Buffy's until she stood there completely nude and let Buffy's appreciative eyes roam over her body. She knelt down at the foot of the bed and ran her hands up Buffy's impossibly smooth thighs, licking her lips as Buffy's hands began tugging down her own panties. Faith kissed the insides of both her knees before reaching up and pulling them down the rest of the way. She pulled Buffy down further on the bed and spread her legs, her mouth watering as she saw how wet Buffy was for her, because of her.

Trailing the tip of her tongue teasingly up Buffy's inner thigh, she let her fingers gently graze over her clit, sensitive and throbbing with need before she settled between her legs and dove in, needing to taste her, needing to fuck her with her tongue until Buffy begged her to stop.

"Faith...more," Buffy pleaded as Faith parted her pussy lips with her fingers and ran her tongue over her hole, teasing her as she dipped it in just a little. "Fuck."

Buffy was shaking from the amount of pleasure rushing through her body. Her hands made their way to Faith's head and she wove her fingers through her head and pulled her to where she needed her most. Faith nipped and sucked at her clit as she brought her fingers to her hole and slid them in slowly, feeling Buffy's pussy walls contract around them at the sudden and very welcome intrusion.

She ignored the pain in her knees from the hardwood floor as she continued to nip, suck and flick at Buffy's clit as her fingers slowly and deeply fucked in and out of her. She could feel how close she was already, just minutes into it, and she couldn't hold back the smirk at how good she was at making Buffy come so quickly. She slid her own hand between her legs, sighing out as she slipped her fingers over her own throbbing, sensitive clit.

Not letting up at the pleasurable assault on Buffy's clit, she slid a third finger in, knowing it was all Buffy needed to come tumbling over the edge. Buffy came with a strangled gasp, a string of explicative's followed by a gentle sigh as her body went rigid and then eventually limp as she rode out her intense orgasm with Faith sucking languidly on her clit and keeping her fingers buried inside of her. She groaned as she slid her own fingers rapidly over her clit, feeling her own orgasm just on the brink. It wasn't enough and Buffy seemed to know as well. She pulled Faith up onto the bed and forced her to lie on her back. She sat back for a moment, watching as Faith fingered her own clit.

"Fuck, that's sexy," Buffy whispered as she leaned down to place a light, tender kiss upon her lips before she reached for Faith's hand and reluctantly pulled it away. "Remind me next time to let you get yourself off while I watch."

Faith groaned as Buffy bit down on her nipple, her fingers nimbly slipping over her wet pussy, teasing at her hole for a second before slipping a single finger inside. Faith's hips rose from the bed as Buffy gradually made her way down her body. In no time at all Faith was seeing stars, moaning out Buffy's name as she thrust into Buffy's face as her fingers pumped in and out of her roughly and her tongue lapped at her clit like there was no tomorrow.

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Buffy crawling up next to her. She had a stupidly happy grin across her lips and with a whisper declaring her love, she closed her eyes and succumbed to the peaceful blackness that only ever came with an intense orgasm.

Her last thought was how incredible it felt just to be with Buffy and how she never wanted this to end. Ever.

Chapter Nine

Author's Notes: This one is for MadisonLeigh cos she bugged the hell outta me the other day for an update...here ya go woman, hope you are happy ;) :p

Waking up to a smiling Buffy was definitely one of the best ways to wake up. Faith smiled back up at her sleeping, feeling slightly ashamed she'd passed out like that on her. She never underestimated the power Buffy held over her at time though and she'd learned that fairly quick within the first couple of days of their agreement. She stretched out on the bed slowly, smiling wider at Buffy as she stole a quick glance at the clock. They still had a good hour or so before they had to head out on patrol.

"Was I out long?"

"Half an hour," Buffy smiled as she leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss.

"Damn," Faith breathed out slowly as she rolled onto her side and wrapped an arm around Buffy's waist, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise when she felt the leather harness around her hips. "You serious?"

Buffy nodded her head slowly, almost shyly as she pulled Faith in for a kiss. The first time Faith had brought it out, Buffy had up and told her she never wanted to use it on her. Whatever it was that changed her mind, Faith sure as hell wasn't complaining. Her pussy throbbed in anticipation of this happening and she pulled back from the searing kiss and glanced down at the rubber cock jutting out from between Buffy's legs.

"I uh..." Buffy stammered as Faith grabbed onto it and gave it a gentle tug. "After the last time..."

"No need to explain, babe," Faith said quickly, smiling to reassure her she was more than okay with this unexpected surprise. Definitely not something she expected to wake up to.

Buffy looked nervous, more so than she'd ever seen her since they started fucking on a nightly basis. Faith pulled her in closer, soothingly rubbing her back as she kissed her tenderly and trying to reassure her there was nothing to be afraid of and no reason to hold back. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she reached down for the rubber phallus and with a stifled groan she slid it inside of her. They laid on their sides, holding onto one another as Faith took the lead, hoping Buffy would come over whatever fear she had and just go with it. Buffy soon found some of that sexual confidence Faith had grown used to and grabbed onto her leg and wrapped it around her waist as she began a slow, steady rhythm.

They said nothing, sharing a few hot open-mouthed kisses as Buffy kept the pace slow, pulling almost all the way out before easing her way back in. Faith wanted to tell her to fuck her, hard and fast, but from the look she saw in Buffy's eyes she knew she had to let her do it her way and if slow was the way she wanted to go, so be it. There was something definitely a little more intense with the way Buffy looked into her eyes and breathed against her lips with every gentle, steady thrust.

Gripping gently onto Buffy's hip, Faith helped her find a slightly faster rhythm, one she knew was pressing the plug just right into Buffy. The moans escaping past Buffy's partially parted lips told her how much she was really enjoying this even if she was holding herself back. Faith moaned out as Buffy pulled their bodies closer, their bodies melded together, hard nipples digging into each other's as their hips moved in perfect synchronicity together.

Faith could hear her heart hammering in her chest as well as Buffy's as it beat just as rapidly as hers. The slowness of it all was beginning to drive her insane and she needed more, so much more. Her body was screaming for it and she couldn't wait for Buffy to find that last bit of confidence in her just to let go and really fuck her. She swiftly manoeuvred their bodies until Buffy was on her back and she was on top and she smirked as she placed her hands on either side of Buffy and began to thrust down onto the fake cock at a pace that she knew not only pleased her, but was causing delicious pleasure for Buffy as well.

She kept her eyes on Buffy, watching as she threw her head back against the mattress and bit her lower lip as she raised her hips in time with Faith's. Faith was finding it hard to hold herself back, wanting to ride her until they both collapsed. She had to keep it steady, make every second last because that little voice in the back of her head told her this might be just that rare occasion where Buffy was more than willing to be a little `daring' in their relationship.

She had to suppress a laugh with that thought though. Thinking during sex always got her into trouble with her inner demons. She kissed Buffy wildly, groaning into her mouth as Buffy ran her nails roughly down her back and gripped onto her ass, forcing her down harder and faster. Just over the sounds of their hearts beating, their sharp ragged breaths, she could hear the sounds of the headboard hitting the wall and the springs of the mattress squeaking with every thrust she made. She broke away from the kiss, gasping for air as she pressed her forehead against Buffy's, no longer able to hold back her orgasm as it shot through her body.

"Fuck," she hissed as Buffy trailed a hand and forced it in between them, easily finding her clit and rubbed it hard, sending her spiralling into another orgasm before the first had even finished.

Buffy sighed out contently as Faith finally collapsed on top of her. Their naked, sweaty bodies clung to each other, stuck together in all the right places. Not even an apocalypse would make Faith want to move right then. She couldn't even if she wanted to. Her body was humming with the pleasure and she was basking in the afterglow as she fought to keep herself from blacking out yet again.

"You okay?"

"Five by five," she barely managed to breathe out as she lifted her head and gave Buffy a brief kiss before rolling off of her. She lay on her side and watched with a teasing smile dancing over her lips as Buffy managed to slip the harness off and she tossed to the floor.

"What?" Buffy asked as she curled up next to her.

"So fucking sexy."

"What is?"

"You are," Faith chuckled. "You are also insatiable, you know that?"

"You've told me once or twice," Buffy replied with a wink as she quickly rolled away from her and got up from the bed. "God, that was almost half an hour? So didn't feel like it."

"Really?" Faith looked over at the clock, surprised herself at how much time had gone past. It barely seemed like that long. She always lost track of time whenever she was with Buffy and she thought she'd gotten used to that fact by now. "Shit, we should shower and get our asses into gear. The last thing I need is for Giles to get all pissed cos we just wanna fuck."

Buffy was already out the bedroom door, but Faith knew she was blushing at the thought of Giles even thinking about the two of them together. Trying not to be too disappointed they didn't get a chance just to cuddle afterwards, Faith gave herself another minute before she dragged her ass out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. Buffy was already in the shower, the steam quickly filling the small room and Faith took a moment to appreciate her nude form through the steam as she pulled back the shower curtains. She pushed out the thoughts of wanting nothing more than to step in there behind Buffy and press her up against the tiled wall face first and fuck her without abandon.

They didn't have time to fuck around, literally and with a few deep breaths to relax herself, she stepped in behind Buffy and laid a gentle kiss upon her shoulder. She kept it innocent as she could, knowing if she even touched Buffy anymore than she just did that they would do a lot more than shower.

"You couldn't wait?" Buffy asked and she sounded slightly agitated as she handed Faith the bottle of shampoo.

"No. Besides, saves water and time sharing a shower together, doesn't it?"

"I guess."

"Something wrong, B?" Faith asked, concerned now with the sudden flip in Buffy's mood.

"Just tired."

"Oh. Okay," Faith sighed as she shrugged it off. "You gonna be able to keep your eyes open on patrol tonight?"

"Barely."

They switched so Faith was under the hot spray of water and she closed her eyes and tipped her head back; letting it relax her and wash away the thoughts she really didn't want to have. Not after the amazing sex they'd had and not after all they'd been through the last couple of days. Even with her eyes closed she could feel Buffy's eyes roaming over her body. It sent chills down her spine because all she could feel was the lust and the desire just rolling off of Buffy even if she was trying to hold herself back.

"Oh, fuck this," Buffy groaned as she grabbed onto Faith suddenly and kissed her hard and deep as she pressed her back up against the cool, wet tiles. "We'll head out on patrol later. If it bothers Giles, well he can go fuck himself for all I care."

"Damn, B. Here I was thinking you were being all bitchy for some unexplained reason when really you were just trying to keep yourself from jumping me," Faith chuckled as she gently pushed Buffy back and stepped back under the hot water. Buffy gave her a look as if she was acting impossible and it only caused Faith to laugh again. "What? You know the water doesn't stay too hot for too long."

"How is it possible for me to never get enough of you?"

"Don't know, B."

"Even after all those nights we spent the entire night together, I still wanted more."

"B, before I even had you I couldn't get enough of you. Thoughts of you and what it'd be like to be with you fuelled a lot of fantasies of mine for years. Let's just say even in my wildest imagination nothing comes close to the real thing."

"Really?" Buffy blushed as she wrapped her arms around Faith and managed to spin them around so she was under the water. "We wasted so much time, didn't we?"

"Well, there was the whole going evil thing, which was my fault, then the whole being in prison thing, again my fault and partially yours since you were so dead set on me ending up there. But that's all in the past now, B. I like to just think of the more recent past, you know?"

They both laughed and sighed out as the same time as they kept their arms around each other. Having a talk this intense in the shower that brought up a lot from their past probably wasn't the brightest idea. Faith wasn't even sure what caused her to even let it get to that point. She never brought up their past and neither did Buffy. They had decided when the agreement began between them that they would just move on, forgive and forget. It was all they could do, even if it wasn't healthy for their relationship.

Buffy seemed to let it go, not saying a word to keep the conversation Faith didn't want to have from continuing on any further. They managed to keep their hands off each other from that point on, just long enough to shower and dry off. Getting dressed however wasn't about to happen anytime soon as Faith found herself pinned up against the bathroom door with Buffy's hot, wet mouth trailing wet kisses down her neck.

"You serious about not caring if we piss Giles off?"

"Ugh," Buffy groaned as she pulled back and grabbed the towel she'd discarded onto the floor. "I do and I don't. Talk about a mood killer."

"You're the one who said it first!"

"Ten minutes ago!"

Faith chased Buffy down, both of them giggling uncontrollably as Faith caught her and picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. This was definitely different. Something had changed between them, for the better Faith though as she laid Buffy down on the bed gently.

"I don't want to..." Buffy sighed out as she reached up and tucked Faith's wet hair behind her ears. "I don't want to spend a night alone without you, Faith."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying...do you think we should, you know?"

"No I don't know," Faith replied as she looked down at Buffy, furrowing her brows trying to figure out what Buffy was getting at. Then it hit her and she couldn't help but smile down at her. "You want to move in with me? Ready to shack up and all that?"

"I was thinking you could move in with me and Dawn. Our apartment is much bigger and..."

"Not so much on the privacy scale."

"Faith!" Buffy laughed as she playfully punched her in the shoulder. "Is that all you can think about is getting naked with me?"

"Among other things," Faith chuckled as she gave her a soft kiss. "You serious about this, B?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Dawn doesn't even know about us. How do you think she's gonna react to me moving in and sharing your bed?"

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"You realize you've asked me three times tonight if I am being serious," Buffy pointed out as she ran her hands up and down Faith's back slowly as they lay there together. "I think after tonight with Xander, I'm feeling slightly less scared about letting everyone know about our relationship. I know I love you, Faith. Nothing is going to change that now that it's all out in the open between us. I also know I can't seem to get enough of you."

Faith couldn't help but smile shyly at that. She never thought she'd fall so hard and so deep in love like this. She never thought she was capable of being in love like this or having someone feel the same way about her. She was serious when she'd told Buffy before that she'd marry her if she could. She had to remind herself to take it all one step at a time right now and to focus on solidifying their relationship as it was now and letting it grow into more at a natural pace. In her mind, they'd been together for a year, and they really had. It was by far the longest relationship she'd ever had even before she knew it was a relationship.

"Faith?"

"Yeah, B?"

"Can you like..." Buffy chuckled as she nudged Faith off of her and reached for her jeans lying at the foot of the bed and pulled out her cell. "It's been ringing for the last two hours."

"I can't hear anything."

"It's on vibrate," Buffy replied as she checked the call display and sighed out softly. "It's Dawn. She's going to want to know where I am."

"You gonna tell her?"

Buffy took in a deep breath as she lay back down next to Faith and nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. I have to tell her. She's the only one that doesn't know. If she doesn't freak out over the fact that we're together she's definitely going to freak out over being the last to find out."

"You want me to give you some privacy?"

"No," she said as she shook her head and grabbed onto Faith's hand. "Stay right where you are."

Faith smiled as she ran her fingers lightly over Buffy's stomach and waited for her to gather up some courage before she hit the talk button and brought the phone to her ear. Faith could hear Dawn freaking out on Buffy, something about Buffy having promised her she'd come home before patrol tonight. Faith could feel the tension rising in Buffy, she could see it in her eyes as she said nothing and listened to Dawn continue on and on.

"Dawn..." Buffy sighed as she tried to stop her from yapping away and she smiled down at Faith as Faith gave her a light kiss on her shoulder. "Dawnie, can you shut up for two seconds? I need to talk to you."

Faith could still hear Dawn going on and on for about another minute or so. She leaned in and gave Buffy a light kiss, feeling her smile against her lips before Buffy gently nudged her away.

"Dawn?" Buffy repeated and finally Dawn quieted down. "I'm sorry for not coming home tonight, but uh...I had made plans with Faith I couldn't break."

"It's just Faith! It's not like she wouldn't understand you need to spend time with your own sister!" Faith heard Dawn say loudly, almost as if she was shouting into the phone.

"I don't ask you to break plans with your boyfriend, do I?" Buffy asked then looked at Faith. "She hung up."

"She hung up? Is that good or bad?"

Buffy shrugged as she tossed her cell to the side and pulled Faith on top of her. "Right now, I don't care."

"She's not going to come over here is she?" Faith asked softly as she kissed her lightly for a second before pulling back. "She's coming here, isn't she?"

"Shit!" Buffy groaned as she pushed Faith off of her and got off the bed. "Oh god."

Faith laid there on her side watching Buffy as she scrambled to get her clothes on. She smiled over at her, knowing that she should be doing something to calm her down. She stifled a laugh as Buffy picked up the strap on and shoved it into the top dresser drawer. Buffy began pacing around the room, trying to dry her hair with a towel as she muttered under her breath. Faith got up from the bed and stopped her from pacing and she wrapped her arms around her and took the towel away from her hands.

"Relax," she whispered against her lips. "It's not like Dawn probably hasn't figured it out by now."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh...well, she's your sister. She probably notices when you don't go home until early morning. I think she has suspected that you aren't really out all night patrolling."

"Why?" Buffy asked, alarmed. "Has she said something to you?"

"No," Faith said as she shook her head no and pulled her in for a kiss and found herself being shoved backwards before her lips even touched Buffy's. "I was just saying..."

"Just get dressed, Faith."

She rolled her eyes as Buffy walked out of the bedroom. She got dressed slowly, listening to Buffy as she tried to clean up the mess in the living room. She heard the rapid knocking on the door and rolled her eyes as she sat down on the edge of the unmade bed and pulled on her boots. There was silence after she'd heard the door being open and it worried her a little. She slowly approached the partway open bedroom door and peered out and sat Buffy and Dawn sitting on the couch talking quietly.

She made her way to the kitchen and pulled out a cold beer from the fridge. She listened carefully, unable to pick up pieces of the conversation as she leaned against the counter and watched Buffy as she spoke to Dawn quietly. She caught Dawn saying her name a couple of times and it wasn't full of malice at all, which made her relieved and a little more than worried about the fallout she half expected to come at any moment.

"How long, Buffy?"

"A year or so now."

"How come you didn't tell me?"

"I don't know, Dawn. I just...I'm sorry," Buffy stammered, fighting back her tears and it sent Faith's heart into a world of pain to hear her and see her so upset. "I don't need to give you the whole details, but we weren't really together until recently."

"So, you two were just fucking that whole time?"

"Dawnie!"

Faith choked on her beer and laughed, unable to hold it back and she blew Buffy a kiss when she glared over at her. She was relieved though since Dawn wasn't acting the way Willow had the other day. It was one less thing for Buffy to worry about, which made it a lot less stressful for her too. After Dawn and Buffy had enough of laughing together, Buffy got up and walked into the kitchen and pulled out two bottles of beer.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"Nah," Faith shook her head and grabbed Buffy by the waist before she could walk away. "Gonna have to ask you for payment for drinking my beer though."

"What kind of payment?"

"A kiss."

Buffy pouted and pulled Faith out of view from the living room before giving her a deep, passionate kiss. Buffy squirmed to get away after a few long minutes, but Faith wasn't letting her go that easily. She placed her beer bottle down on the counter and grabbed the ones in Buffy's hand and placed them down next to her own and backed her up against the wall, both of them moaning softly into each other's mouths and seemingly forgetting that they were not alone in the apartment.

"Faith..."

"Fuck, I could kiss you all night," Faith groaned softly as she pulled away from her. "You think you can get rid of her so we can...you know, before we go out on patrol?"

"I'll try."

Faith whimpered as she pulled Buffy back in for another kiss. It was never enough for her. She always just needed that little bit more and she let Buffy back away from the kiss after a moment and she slapped her playfully across the ass as she grabbed the two unopened bottles of beer and walked out to the living room.

"Am I becoming clingy?" Faith asked herself under her breath as she picked up her bottle of beer and took a sip. "God, I hope I'm not becoming one of those clingy chicks. I fucking hate those clingy chicks."

She laughed at herself as she leaned against the counter and looked over at Buffy. She and Dawn were laughing again and every time Buffy would look over at her and smile, her heart melted just a little more and she found herself falling in love with Buffy just a little more. And it felt so damn good.

Chapter Ten

Author's Notes: This is it. This is the end, the final chapter of what was supposed to be just an outlet fic of sorts. The subtle little plot, or at least was had originally been planed as subtle, ran its course and I felt the need to end it where I did. Gotta thank everyone who kept reading this over the past couple of months and have to say I'm sorry for leaving the updates far and in between as well. On to bigger and better things now, right? :)

Faith slammed Buffy up against the mausoleum after they'd faced a group of newbie vampires. They both groaned as their lips met in a fierce kiss. The adrenaline rush of the slay was pumping violently through Faith's body. She couldn't control herself as she popped the button on Buffy's jeans and slid her hand inside roughly. The logical, sensible part of her told her they should just get back to her place as soon as possible, but she couldn't wait. She didn't want to wait. Buffy was in no means of protesting against it as Faith's fingers slid over her clit and thrust roughly inside her.

"Oh god," Buffy groaned as she pulled back from Faith's insistent lips and tongue. "We should...we should stop and go back to your place."

"Stop?" Faith sighed as she laid her forehead against Buffy's and stilled her fingers. "I don't think you want me to stop."

She'd never been one to take Buffy roughly, but right then and there, with the adrenaline pumping through her body as quickly as it was, she couldn't hold herself back. She gave her a tender kiss before she began to thrust two of her fingers hard and fast and deep. Buffy gripped her shoulders, her body shuddering with each rough thrust. She slowed her pace down just a little as Buffy managed to unbutton her jeans and slid her hand inside. She groaned at the pool of wetness waiting there and their lips crashed together as Buffy slid two slender fingers hard into her hot, wet hole.

Her legs were already shaking, needing the release, needing more, and now wishing they had waited until they'd gotten back to the apartment. She needed Buffy fully and it was hard to have all of her there in the cemetery. Just as she felt the edges of a quick and intense orgasm about to flood through her body, she found herself being pulled away roughly and landed about ten feet away from Buffy.

"Fuck!" Faith growled as she got up and quickly buttoned up her jeans. Three vamps had Buffy surround and a fourth was headed straight for her. "You fuckers really know how to ruin the mood, don't you?"

Faith managed to outrun the vamp that was headed for her and she slid across the slick grass and grabbed her stake from where she'd dropped it seconds before slamming Buffy up against the mausoleum wall. Buffy had already dusted one of the vamps and was fighting the other two relentlessly with no signs of giving up or tiring. Faith didn't have to worry about her. She knew Buffy could handle herself. She launched herself up from the ground and tackled the vamp headed for her as soon as he was within arm's length.

She wasn't up for a fight. She had enough of it already. She dusted him quickly and stood up slowly and watched Buffy fight the last vamp. She twirled her stake in her hand, feeling the adrenaline surging through her body even harder than before. Her pussy throbbed at the sight of Buffy taking the vamp down and with one last hard right hook that sent the vamp stumbling back, she plunged her stake into his heart and let out a sigh of relief.

"God, they just never stop, do they?" Buffy groaned as she dusted off her clothes and tucked her stake into the waistband of her jeans. "You okay, Faith?"

"Oh yeah," Faith grinned as she reached for her hand and they headed for where she'd parked her Harley. "Come on, let's get out of here before any more show up and ruin the mood. I wanna get you home and get you naked."

"My, my don't you have your priorities in order?" Buffy teased as they climbed onto the Harley and she placed a wet kiss on the back of Faith's neck. She trailed her lips to her ear and snaked her tongue over the shell slowly.

"My priorities involve getting you naked and in my bed as soon as possible. I think those are the only ones that matter right about now, don't you think?"

"Hurry up then," Buffy whispered into her ear as she wrapped her arms around Faith.

Faith sped out of the cemetery and down the streets, her mind solely focused on getting them back to the apartment as quickly as possible. She got them there in record time and they avoided the elevator and took the stairs three at a time. Buffy's hands were all over Faith as she fumbled with the keys and slid it into the lock. She threw the door open and pulled Buffy inside the dark apartment and slammed her up against the door as it shut.

"At times like this," Faith breathed heavily as she quickly unbuttoned Buffy's jeans, "I wish you'd wear those skirts I heard Xander telling me you used to wear all the time. Would just love to pin you up against the wall and run my hands up those deliciously smooth thighs of yours and..."

She grunted softly, earning a giggle from Buffy as she pulled her away from the door and walked backwards towards the bedroom. Their clothes came off, piece by piece before they reached the bedroom door and Faith, feeling rather impatient, picked Buffy up and wrapped her legs around her waist and carried her the rest of the way. She let Buffy down on her feet as she stood at the edge of the bed and found herself being pushed back rather roughly.

"Remember what I said the other day?" Buffy whispered as she stood there staring down at Faith. "I want to watch you touch yourself."

"Yeah?" Faith grinned as she moved up the bed a little bit and slowly spread her legs. "Right now?"

"No, tomorrow," Buffy laughed as she moved onto the bed and sat in front of her and ran her fingers over her legs slowly. "Of course right now."

Faith groaned softly as she ran her hand down her body, watching Buffy's eyes intensely as she parted her lips and waited. She wanted to do this for Buffy, but she needed to feel Buffy's own fingers, her own lips and tongue trailing a blazing path over her skin. She was already soaked and she arched her back as her fingers slipped over her clit. She forced her eyes to stay open, watching Buffy watching her. Buffy trailed her fingers over her legs, barely touching her and yet it sent shockwaves through her sensitive and highly charged body. Buffy was breathing heavily as Faith slid two fingers hard and deep inside her cunt. She bit her lip to suppress the moan, surprised at how turned on she was having Buffy watch her get herself off.

She couldn't keep her eyes open and she closed them tight, focusing only on Buffy's fingers as they lightly trailed up her legs until they came to a stop just before the apex of her thighs. She could feel Buffy's breath against her hot pussy and she worked her fingers faster, the need to come hard and fast too much right then. She opened her eyes as she felt Buffy straddle her and reach down with her hand slowly and placed it over Faith's.

"Let me," Buffy whispered huskily into her ear as she moved her hand over Faith's before sliding two of her fingers inside her cunt. Faith groaned loudly as she spread her legs wider and drove her fingers in and out faster.

Buffy gripped onto her fingers and slowed them, completely and their eyes locked in an intense gaze for a moment. Faith gasped as Buffy pressed down hard on her hand, forcing her palm into her sensitive clit a little too hard. Her hips jerked up sharply and she let out a low, feral moan as she pulled Buffy down for a wet, wanton kiss. She knew what Buffy was doing. She wasn't going to let her come until she wanted her to. It was painful pleasure, one she craved more than anything else. Once again, Buffy had proven that she knew just how to push all her buttons and it never failed to surprise her in any way.

Buffy had always had that power over her, the power to make her surrender herself completely. Trusting her in everything she did to her. She tried to breathe, having to break away from the kiss in order to catch her breath. She could feel the burning of an intense orgasm building from deep within her and she knew Buffy could feel it too. The playful, sexy glint in her eyes as she began moving her fingers with Faith's in a steady, fluid motion, told Faith she would bring her just to the edge and stop, yet again.

"Please," Faith whimpered as she raked her nails down Buffy's back, feeling herself so close and yet not quite here. "I can't take it, B."

"Take what?"

"The teasing," she whispered as she tried to move her fingers, but Buffy held them still, both of them buried knuckle deep inside her cunt. "Please, B. Just..."

"It's that bad?" Buffy smirked as she removed her fingers slowly and brought them to her mouth and licked Faith's wetness off of them. "Mmm, you know what I've become addicted to?"

"What?" Faith asked breathlessly as she watched Buffy suck her fingers clean.

"The taste of you," she whispered as she leaned down to kiss her. "It's like a drug, Faith. I can never get enough. Ever."

She pulled Faith's hand out of her dripping cunt and brought her fingers up to her lips. Slowly, salaciously she licked her fingers clean and with one soft kiss to her lips, she began to move down her body quickly, nipping at her skin and trailing her tongue over those sensitive spots only she ever discovered. Her whole body reacted to Buffy's lips and tongue and the second she ran her hot tongue over her clit, she was lost in a sea of delicious pleasure and feeling as if she was floating and sinking away at the same time.

Her hands were instantly gripping at Buffy's head, it almost too much to take and not enough. The adrenaline rushing through her body from the slay had her charged and her senses overly alert. She felt it then as Buffy plunged her tongue deep inside of her and it ran through her faster than a freight train. She hadn't come so hard so fast like that, not since the first time they'd been together. It was so powerful she almost felt herself about to pass out and she let out a few deep breaths as Buffy moved slowly back up her body and gave her a lingering, tender kiss.

"Wow," Faith grinned as she held Buffy close. "You are simply fucking amazing, B. You know that?"

"You've told me once or twice."

"Damn well almost passed out on you there for a second."

"Mm-hmm."

"When I'm done with you," Faith whispered as she gently eased Buffy onto her back and began peppering light kisses over her jaw and neck. "You won't be able to walk straight for days."

"I don't think I've been able to walk straight since we started fucking each other a year ago," Buffy chuckled as she pulled Faith up for a brief yet passionate kiss.

Faith wiggled her eyebrows as she began a slow, torturous descent down Buffy's body, eagerly willing to return the favour and then some. Although it was late and she was exhausted, she knew that it was going to be another one of those long, sleepless nights. And she definitely welcomed it, just as she always did night after night.

****

Faith woke early the next morning to Buffy nuzzling her neck and her body partially draped over hers. The sheets were hanging off the bed and despite the heat that had been around for most of the summer, the room was cool and refreshing. She moaned as she stretched out and ran her hands over Buffy's bare back, smiling as Buffy pulled Faith closer and kept her face buried in her neck.

"B, we gotta get up."

"Later."

"We have classes to teach in about an hour."

"Call in sick."

Faith laughed as she gave her ass a playful slap. "You know I'd love to take another sick day and spend it fucking you every which way I can think of, but we have responsibilities. Remember those?"

"Fine," Buffy muttered as she rolled away from Faith and rubbed at her eyes for a moment. "Did you open the window last night?"

"Yeah," Faith nodded as she lazily reached for the sheets and pulled them back onto the bed and over them. "Remembered how you like to sleep with the window open a crack. You had me in this death hold and I just barely managed to get the window open before you were mumbling something about never wanting to let me go while you dreamt, probably of me and fucking me again."

Buffy slapped her across the stomach and rolled her eyes. "I don't always dream of you, Faith. Self-centered much?"

"Oh really?"

"Fine," she blushed a little. "You got me. I always dream of you, baby. I can't help it."

"It's because you love me," Faith teased as she leaned over and kissed her softly.

"I do."

Buffy laid there with her for a little while longer before getting up and making her way out of the room and to the bathroom to have a quick shower. It gave Faith a little bit of time to just lay back and let her mind wander.

They'd come so far together in the last little while it was hard to believe they ended up where they did, completely head over heels in love with each other. Everything that had led up to where they were had been a ride. There'd been denial, passion, secrets, and love hidden under the surface until it was broken open. Buffy had made her feel everything she never thought would be possible to feel. Buffy had made an honest woman out of her, broke her `get some, get gone' attitude. All it had taken was one time and she was a goner and completely Buffy's before she even realized that she'd given all of her to Buffy to have.

All in all, even with Buffy's fears of coming out to her friends, her family, she'd gotten over it rather quickly. It made her wonder if Buffy started to realize that this was it, as in `it'. Faith knew from that first admittance of love that she was going to spend the rest of her life, no matter how long or short it'd be, with her. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Buffy was her one and only, the one who she'd fallen hard for, the one who made her feel love for the first time in her life. Buffy was the one who knew just how to touch her, kiss her, and all those nights, as soon as dusk had fallen, she'd shown her in more ways than one far before the love between them was declared, just how much she really cared for her. Wanted her. Needed her. Craved her.

It was no longer just an agreement between two friends; it hadn't been for far longer than they both wanted to admit. Love was funny like that. Faith was only beginning to see that now that the denial had faded completely and she had her heart open and willing to love and let Buffy love her. They did the right thing by staying together and staying strong. They could only move on from here now and the memories of those nights before they knew it was something more would only be just that, memories of which their relationship had been built upon.

And when dusk would fall yet again later that day, they'd be together as they always had been only it was different now.

Everything was. And it'd only get better from here on out.

The End

Оставить комментарий © Copyright invalid_reality Размещен: 10/03/2021, изменен: 10/03/2021. 246k. Статистика. Повесть: Фанфик Скачать FB2		Ваша оценка:

invalid_reality : другие произведения.

Dusk