Prologue: Before...

Thursday, January 25th, 2001

I walk into the bathroom in search of my favorite earrings, only to find Faith already there, standing in front of the mirror as she applied her layers of mascara.

God, she's so beautiful.

I slip my arms around her waist and she jumps a little.

I guess she was so absorbed in putting on that make-up that she didn't hear me come in.

"Hey, babe," she says.

She relaxes into my arms.

"Going somewhere, sweetie?" I ask.

"Yeah, actually."

She turns to me looking a little bit scared.

"Faith..."

"B...I got a call from Kenny. He and Mike want us to hook up with Josie tonight."

"What? Why? I thought tonight was gonna be a you-and-me night."

"It was, babe. And it still will be. It'll just be a little...later then first planned."

Things had been like this for the last week. Plans were either cancelled completely or "postponed" constantly. And it was always by Faith. I kept wondering if I'd done something wrong.

So I ask.

"Did I do something?"

Her eyes widen in surprise.

"WHAT?! NO!! God, Buffy, no! You could never do something wrong. It's just...it's Josie's last night in town. She's been asked to be the head architect for some project in Florida. And she's gonna be down there for six months. Maybe even up to a year. Tonight's kind of like a final little going-away party for her. But they want it to just be our little group, y'know."

"I guess..."

"That's why I've been moving around our stuff all week. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's just...why didn't you tell me?"

"Buffy, I wanted to tell you but I thought you'd be mad. You're...not...mad. Are you?"

"No. I understand, sweetie. I know you and Josie are close."

"Yeah."

She grins.

She slips her arm around my waist and drew me closer, leaning in for a kiss. I cup Faith's cheek with her right hand and smile. She grins and me caress her cheek. It isn't often that we share such achingly romantic moments anymore.

The kiss that followed the exchanged touches was a lot like the first kiss we'd shared. It's passionate and soft and leaves me -- and I think Faith too -- wanting more when it's over. My body is craving the most intimate contact it can have.

"Sorry," Faith says softly.

She kisses my cheek.

"You know I want you to come but...don't you have to study for your Geometry exam anyway?"

Dammit! I forgot about that.

I rub at my forehead, feeling an instant headache coming on.

"I really don't wanna study."

She smiles and focuses those big brown eyes on me.

It's moments like these that I know she's looking straight into my soul. Even if she doesn't mean to, I know that's what she's doing. I do it too. I look straight into her.

"Faith..."

"Babe, I've gotta finish with my make-up, okay? I'll be done in a minute, all right?"

She turns away from me and looks in the mirror, picking up a tube of her favorite shade of lipstick.

"Okay," I reply belatedly, watching her apply the lipstick.

She's so careful with this. The only thing she's more careful with is...me. When we make love.

I hear the sound of a car horn outside. Faith must hear it too because she quickly caps her lipstick tube and rushes past me.

She's so hilarious! She pretends to be all calm when she's going out with those three but the moment they come to pick her up, she's a madwoman.

That's what I love about her.

"B, have you seen my keys!"

Knew that was coming.

I walk toward the front room, where Faith is undoubtedly searching frantically for her house keys.

If she would just leave them in the key bowl in the foyer, like I've told her to a million times, she would never have this problem!

"Sweetie, did you check your belt loops?"

I walk into the room just in time to see her running her hand blindly over the back of her pants, complaining about her head not craning enough to see "back there."

We hear the car horn again.

I find her keys under a magazine on the coffee table and hold them out to her.

"Here. You better go before Mike and Kenny have heart attacks. Just come home to me, okay? In one piece, please."

"I will, B. I swear to God I will," Faith whispers. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Saturday, January 27th, 2001

And she left. Those were the last words she ever said to me. I never thought I wouldn't see her again that night. If I had known what was going to happen, I'd never have let her leave.