AN: This is just a little story I've been rolling around in my head for a few years that finally decided to break it's way into text. It's sort of a BTVS and Daybreakers crossover. The title and general theme of the story comes from the song "Like A Friend", by Pulp.

Thanks to Captain B for beta'ing this, without you I wouldn't have the newly formed gray hairs. :P

"There's a storm coming," I hear B say quietly from her resting position. I can feel the weight of her against my side, her head is laying comfortably on my shoulder and my arm is around her. She has a leg thrown over one of mine and one of her hands is splayed out over my stomach.

"I know," I say back just as quietly with a soft sigh. I can feel the sun beaming down on my face, and the brightness of it behind my closed eyes. The air around us is cool and breezy, and it feels like we're floating. I can hear water lapping around us and waves crashing against each other in the distance. I open my eyes slowly, blinking rapidly against the blinding rays to try to get a look at where we are. Raising my head a little, I bring the hand that my head was resting on up to my face to shield my eyes, and I look around.

We're in the middle of a body of water; in a tiny boat that's floating peacefully. Not seeing or sensing immediate danger I sigh and close my eyes again and throw my arm back to rest my head against it. I don't ask whether this is mine or hers, we stopped asking that a long time ago, not really caring because we know that whatever shit is coming, we'll face it together.

We stay like this for a long moment, feeling the soft sway of the boat with the waves crashing in the distance. It's not until I feel myself drifting off to sleep that she speaks again and it instantly jars me awake.

"Promise me?" she says more than asks softly with a slight turn of her head. Her warm breath tickles the skin on my neck and it makes me shiver.

"Anything." I turn my head slightly to place a kiss on the top of her head.

I feel her smile against my neck and the hand she has laying against my stomach grasps at the cotton shirt. "Promise me that when it comes, you won't let me fall."

"Christ, I'm coming!" At least I should be. I pull myself away from the warm confines of my current bedmate. She's young, hot, brunette…just the way I like them. Okay, so maybe it's not exactly the way I like them, in fact it's so far from what I actually like it's not even funny. But I digress, if you can't love the one you want, love the one you're with…right?

Wrong, because love is not even in the equation where these encounters are concerned. Always a brunette or black hair, red heads even, but never blonde though….sandy, dirty, strawberry…whatever. Nope, never blonde hair…nor green eyes, or hazel even. That always hit to close to home and way too close to something, or rather someone, I know I'll never have.

Finally I stumble out of bed. It takes me a while to focus because of the alcohol still coursing through my veins and impairing my vertical coordination. Coming to some semblance of reality, I quickly grab a t-shirt and the pair of sweatpants that are laying across the back of a chair and pad out of my room, down the stairs, and towards the door. I already know who's on the other side trying to beat my door off its hinges, and I'm sure if she really tried it'd be no big feat at all.

It could only be one person, because there's only one person who would dare venture into the den of the lion at such a late hour and expect to live to see another day. I'm just wondering how the hell she knew I was back seeing as I didn't tell anyone. Not that I hadn't planned on coming back anyway, this is home after all. But I have to wonder if the other reason I know it's her on the other side of the door is the same reason she knew I'd landed back in Scotland.

You see, I have this thing. A Slayer sense….or whatever the fuck you want to call it, but I can feel Buffy. The only way to describe it is that I feel a rush of warm energy all over me, it's not as clear at first, more like a subtle buzz that starts in the base of my spine and the closer she gets the stronger it feels until it's radiating all over. Kinda like when your body is cold and you sit by a fire to get warm. You feel the heat but your body doesn't instantly react to it. It's a subtle change of temperature inside of you that soon spreads all over and before you know it, you're consumed by the heat.

The feeling only intensified after Willow did the spell to call all of the potential slayers. It's like the Slayer calling reboot, starring B and me and it seems to get stronger the closer I am too her. I guess to stay warm you have to remain close and keep the fire burning. I guess that's what she is for me, a steady supply of slow burning fuel. It feels pretty damn amazing, but I'd never tell her that or try to act on it. Just like fire will consume and destroy everything it touches, so does Buffy and I've been burned before. Got a knife in the gut to prove it.

I've never said anything to her about it, so I don't know if it's the same for her. I'd like to think it is, but that it's something she just chooses to ignore, or maybe there's an on and off switch for her. For me though, I've always been able to feel it which I guess means mine is always turned on. But I feel it more whenever she's near. Even when she isn't I still feel her, and it helps to keep me warm.

I actually asked Giles about it once. He didn't have an immediate answer but a couple of days later he sought me out to give me his theory. The essence of the Slayer demon, the one you get from being truly called, lives inside both of us, and since there was never supposed to be two Slayers at once, the essence is split, fragmented he called it, between the two of us. It's creating this bond between us, because it seems the two halves are always seeking the other out trying to be whole again.

Of course I laughed about it, not that it was funny or anything. I guess it kinda makes sense actually. I just never told B about it because really what would I say? 'Guess what B? You complete me…literally!' Yeah….no, can't be telling her that shit. Even if it's true. When we're together, or in the same vicinity of each other, I feel stronger. My senses are heightened, my muscles feel stronger, my heart beats faster, and everything about me seems to go into overdrive. Don't get me wrong, apart from her, I'm still a badass, but yeah…she completes me, and deep down I guess I kinda hope she feels it too.

"You are an asshole," Buffy tells me as a way of greeting when I open the door. She crosses her arms over her chest and just looks at me with an unreadable expression.

"I missed you too B," I tell her truthfully, the corner of my mouth turned upward in a smirk while leaning against the doorway. I wait for it. She stares me down for a second before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around my neck. She doesn't say it, and she doesn't have to because the tight embrace she has me in lets me know that she missed me too. I upright myself and eagerly return her embrace. I wrap my arms around her waist before I pick her up, making her squeal and laugh a little before bringing her inside.

My body is already charged from the night's recent explorations that were cut short by this visit, and it goes into overdrive with her pressed so tightly against me. The warmth of her body seeps into my own and it covers me from head to toe. I have to fight with myself to pull away from her. When I do, she also releases her hold on me and steps away, looking a bit shy with that cute little half smile on her face, and I can't help but smile back.

Buffy and I never used to be big on the hugs and cuddles, but a lot has changed and now that shit is just natural, especially when I've been away. She steps further inside and when she does, I close the door behind her.

"What are you doing here B? Why aren't you getting all loved up with your boy toy of the month?" I say teasingly, but really it leaves a bad taste in my mouth thinking of her being all loved up with anyone. Not that I try to deter it or anything, because really…trying to keep Buffy from the train wreck that is bound to be any relationship she's in is like trying to keep a fat kid away from cake. And besides, I just want her to be happy.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home? I would've picked you up," she says instead, apparently avoiding my question. I don't bring to much attention to it because really, I could care less about what's his name.

"Your driving is bad B, I actually wanted to make it back here in one piece," I tell her with a grin. She apparently doesn't find it funny and turns away from me instead. That makes me feel all fucked up inside and I don't know why because I know she's not actually mad about my comment; I tease her about her driving all the time.

"It's no big deal, I'm a big girl B, and I know how to find my way home," I say with a shrug because I can't actually tell her that I was debating not coming back so soon, at least not until I knew what was going on with the reason I was back to begin with. What exactly would I say? 'Oh I didn't tell you because I really didn't want to come back because I miss you more when I'm around you'. Yeah I don't think she'd appreciate that, and I don't want to be making things awkward between us.

I'm not exactly sure how to explain it though. The longing that I feel for her seems to have gotten stronger as time passes and even though I miss her like crazy when I'm away, it's not as bad as when I'm actually around her. Crazy right? How can you miss someone so much when they're standing in a room with you? I guess it's just the fact that when I'm away I always have something to keep me occupied. Whether it be some baddie I'm chasing down or some random lay for the night. It's why I jump at every opportunity to pull myself away when a time sensitive, or special skill capability mission blips on our radar.

Luckily, with all the evil out there I get to travel a lot. It kind of feels like trying to wean yourself off of a bad habit. So that's why I don't let myself get all caught up in coming back home, because I know that it's her I'm always coming back too, and I would never deny myself that, even if it hurts a little.

"What's with the getup B, I thought we were grounded for a bit?" I ask, trying to push that particular part of me missing her down and indicating the kick ass slaying gear she's donning. It's still funny sometimes when I think about what she used to wear to go on patrol back in the day compared to "standard slayer issued" gear that she wears now. Her teenage self would be so disappointed. She's decked all in black with some loose fitting cargo pants that are snugly tucked into her demon stomping boots. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail and she has on a long sleeve fitted tee with a protective vest fitted over it.

I can see the various knives and stakes tucked securely in it. She looks kickass and hot all at the same time. She doesn't say anything though, she just strolls further into my loft and goes into the living room area and plops herself down on the couch with a heavy sigh. Some rough shit has been going down and a few of the slayers have come up missing.

It all started a few weeks back when one of the squads were out patrolling and came across this wicked looking thing that they soon found out was a vamp. They wasn't sure at first because it wasn't the normal run of the mill vamp that we're used to seeing. They described him as this ugly fucker, all skin and bones and deformed, kind of like some shit you would see in the movies. When they stumbled across him, he was actually feeding on himself, but when he noticed them he instantly went on the attack.

It didn't talk or anything, but when it opened its mouth, a loud screech was emitted and then it took off into the air. Yeah, a fucking flying vamp! When it reappeared, it swooped down on them, one of his wings decapitating one of the girls and it grabbed another and took off with her and impaled her mid-air. Once it had its fill, it dropped the bloody corpse right back in the spot where it picked her up from.

After getting over the chaos and shock of it all, once the fucker came back in for another kill, one of the girls….on instinct, was able to get behind it and stake it through its back and that's when it went up in flames. They said that instead of it disintegrating into dust, it was all fire and ash. Dust…flames, either way it was gone with a stake to the heart. So yeah, a vamp.

After that, a few of the more seasoned slayers went out patrolling and they came across a few more of the flying vamps, luckily they were more prepared with crossbows. After a few more patrols, some of the girls came up missing. Like vanished off the face of the fucking earth. And when dawn struck, a crew went out to see if they could find any remains of the squad only to come up empty, finding no bodies or any signs of them having existed.

Some type of new vamp species is what the brains are calling it…a flying one at that. How very Bram Stoker of them. I don't care what it is though, if it looks like a vamp and dies like one….I'm staking the shit out of it.

So that's when a lock down was imposed worldwide. I'd been tracking a pair of Haklar demons in South Asia for a week when I got the call from Buffy. They only appear during alternating full moons to mate and feed, and the last sighting of this particular pair was in the area I was holed up in. Needless to say, I was not too thrilled to be called out of the field the day before the full moon when they were supposed to appear.

Initially she tore into my ass for not answering the phone the first five thousand times she had called me. After I explained that I was in the middle of nowhere and right in the heart of shitty reception, not to mention hunting and trying to be all stealth-like, she eased up. Apparently she had been worried about me with all the shit that had went down, and the apparent Slayer dream that we'd shared where we're in the middle of the ocean. If the dream is anything to go by, it seems I should be worried about her.

I never bring too much attention to them anymore, the slayer dreams that is, most of the time they end up being nothing at all and half the time I'm not sure if we're even sharing them at all. But after apologizing to her fuck knows how many times for making her worry, she had one of her breakdowns that she has whenever we lose a Slayer. I could only listen, letting her get out the grief she felt quickly accompanied by the overwhelming guilt of having made the decision to 'call' all of the potentials.

It's a conversation she and I have had a dozen times over, which always ends in me giving her my spiel about how she did what she had to do to save the world and that I stood behind her decision 100%. All Slayers live to die eventually, like it or not, it's the life we live. Every girl that we take in is made aware of the choice they are making and of the rules of slaying.

Rule #1 - Don't Die. We can't help it if some of them can't follow the rules. So they get to choose between the red pill and the blue one. Simple as that. They can stay and fight, or go back to their blissfully ignorant existence.

It ain't easy being a Slayer, and we all knew that when the decision was made. Not all of them will make it past the first year. We can only hope that when we do go out, that we go out fighting while taking a few of the fuckers that go bump in the night with us, and that it's bloodiest, most badass death imaginable. At least that's what I hope when it's finally my time to bite it.

So now here I am back at home. On lock down until the brains can figure out if this is an isolated occurrence, or if it's something that can possibly be happening in other places. Regardless of when and where it's happening, I'm ready to find some of these new species of undead fuckers to get in a little payback.

I pad over to where Buffy is sitting and plop down beside her and wait for her to say something. When she doesn't, I press on. "So you gonna tell me why you get to go out and kick some demon ass when I'm cooped up playing the dutiful Slayer? I'm feeling all kinds of jealous here B."

Still she doesn't say anything, instead she unbuckles and pulls off her vest and lays it across the back of the couch before reaching down and unlacing and pulling off her boots with a relieved sigh. I smile a little, loving how she always makes herself at home here. She was initially upset when I moved out of the castle with them and into this nice pad I have now. She got over it quickly though when I handed her over her own key and I let her help decorate, which wasn't half as bad as I expected. She knows what I like, but that didn't mean she didn't add her own little 'Buffy' spin on the place. It's mixed, with a little light and dark, a little Buffy and Faith. I like it.

And don't get me wrong, the castle is fucking huge and the layout with all the land surrounding it allows for plenty of privacy and room for everyone, but I just needed to distance myself. I'm not too far away though, nothing a good 30 minute drive wouldn't take care of, about 20 minutes if the fog isn't thick, and of course in a matter of seconds if you hitch a ride via the Willow-train. So this place was perfect. It's close enough to the city when I need to just get away and let loose , and far enough away from B when I am.

"I'll tell you, but only if you…," she trails off and looks over at me pleadingly, wiggling her toes. I smirk at her because she's acting so damn cute right now, but I know I can't resist. Moving over to one end of the couch, I assume the position. I can't help but grin at the giddy look that crosses her face as she gets comfortable on the other end of the sofa and leans back against the arm, bringing her legs up to lay her feet across my lap.

Yep, I know what she wants and yep….I'm happy to comply as I grab one of her tiny feet. She's such a shock to my soft side and I think she knows it. "Now start talking Blondie," I tell her as I start to rub the top of her foot. A soft moan is pulled from her and suddenly my eyes find her face and all thoughts are lost. Her eyes are closed and she now has an arm thrown behind her head. I rub her foot again, this time moving lower and she sighs again. Damn, that's sexy.

"Buffy," I clear my throat to get her attention and also to get my own brain back on track.

"Hmm?" She opens her eyes to look at me, they're hooded she looks like what I'm doing to her is melting all the bad shit away from her mind. It kinda makes me feel bad for interrupting whatever mind orgasm she's having right now knowing that I'm the one giving it to her.

"Spill it….now. You don't get these magic hands for free Princess," I tell her and tickle her feet.

She laughs and pulls her foot away from the assault. I pull her foot back into my lap and continue to massage it. She sighs again before she starts.

"Kennedy and I went out to see if we could find more clues on these new freaky vamps."

"What?" I say, taking my attention away from the foot in my lap and getting a little angry with her. "The two of you went out on your own?" At her nod I shake my head. "After you fucking stupid or something?" I ask harshly and she narrows her eyes at me. "Buffy you could have gotten yourself killed!" I say angrily. "Isn't the reason you put everyone on lockdown to keep them safe? Do you think that doesn't apply to you? What the fuck were you thinking?"

"No one seems to know what we're dealing," she says almost yelling. "I had to do something!"

"It's only been a few weeks Buffy, give them some time for fucks sake. You know how Giles and Red do, they sit around and read a fuck load of dusty old books, eat some doughnuts and drink tea, make a few calls and before you know it we're out wrecking shit," I make an attempt to explain. "But what I really want to know is how you convinced Red to let Kennedy jump on that stupid train with you."

She looks away for a moment, guilt written all over her face. "Will didn't know about it, no one did. Kennedy caught me slipping out and she tried to stop me. I didn't listen so she insisted on going with me."

I sigh heavily trying to reign in the outrage I feel with her right now. "So you were gonna skip out and she caught you, and the two of you go out on your own and no one even knew. If something would've happened, no one would've known where to even start looking for you two." She doesn't say anything but I know she gets my point. I shake my head at her. So damn stupid. "How reckless and…,"

"And so like you?" she challenges, looking angry now. What a low blow.

I snap my mouth shut and ponder over that for a second. If I were here would I have wanted to just sit around until we found out something? Probably not, but that's beside the point. We aren't talking about me here, we're talking about her. She's supposed to be the responsible one.

"We're not talking about me here B, but if you hadn't noticed, I'm sitting here playing the good little Slayer while you're out playing Marco Polo with a bunch of vamps we don't know shit about."

"What did you expect me to do Faith? Sit around and watch more girls die?" she asks, and I know it's not something I'm expected to answer. She shakes her head and I see a sadness settle across her face. "We've already lost too many of the girls and I guess I just….," she trails off again, her voice softening then she sighs shakily and places an arm over her face.

Now I know why she did it, not that I condone it, but I think I understand even though it was stupid as fuck. She's still feeling guilty about the Slayers dying and thinking somehow it's her fault and wants to do more. I sigh, mentally kicking myself for yelling at her, but that doesn't mean what she did is okay with me. If something would've happened to her I don't know what I would do with myself. It's too painful to even think about.

I sigh heavily trying to reign in some of my anger. Even though I don't approve of what she did I don't want her to beat herself up for what happened to the girls we lost. "Hey," I say softly and wait for her to move her arm away to look at me. "It's not your fault B, you can't save them all, you know? The bad guys get a few shots in sometimes. And no one else has died because you did the smart thing with this lock down until we know what's up."

"I know," she says and I can see her eyes shining with tears and it's tearing me up inside. I look away from her because I don't think I can stand to see her cry.

"Just please, don't ever do that again, okay?" I look over at her briefly before looking away again. "I don't think…I couldn't." I'm stumbling over my words here because just the thought of losing her is too much. And when I say too much, I really mean it. Whatever this Slayer thing is B and I have going, it isn't always of the good. I felt her die the second time she did. Like really felt it, and it was wicked painful, sucked big time.

I was in prison at the time and when it happened it was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I couldn't breathe, and everything inside of me felt like it was trying to tear me apart. I spent two weeks in the infirmary before the pain started to subside, but even then it didn't end. After all the shit I've been through and never really having anyone there for, I felt like the first time in my life that I was alone.

After a while I began to feel stronger, almost invincible even, but knowing what I do now, I just chalk it up to the essence making itself whole again inside of me. But that didn't matter because I felt hollow inside, like a piece of me was missing. So when she was brought back, I felt that too. I didn't feel as invincible anymore, and for fuck sakes I was happy about it because I knew she was back. That warm feeling I got from her started to ignite, and even though it felt wrong and dull somehow, it was the best damn feeling in the world to know she was alive again.

Luckily, but also unfortunately, we're interrupted from the depressing conversation we're having by a voice that floats down from the banister.

"I didn't realize you'd be into a threesome tonight. I may have to actually charge you for this one," the voice above us makes us both look up at the intruder who isn't making the least attempt to cover her naked torso. Not that I mind.

I have to chuckle at the remark because not only would Buffy not be interested in being the 'three' in a threesome, if she thinks I'd share B with anyone if I ever got the chance to have her, she's fucking delusional.

"I'm sure if you did it'd be worth every penny." I grin, happy for the interruption from the heavy thoughts, but apparently Buffy isn't. I look back to her and she has this look on her face and it's something I can't quite decipher and it's making my stomach feel like it's in a knot. Whatever it is, I don't like it.

"I um….I should go," she says tightly and pulls her feet out of my lap and stands up quickly. This makes me react and I stand up just as quick and grab her from behind. My hands are on her hips and her back is pressed to my front. I really didn't mean to stand this close to her, but in my overreaction to not wanting her to go, here we are. Not even the thought of losing a sure thing for the night in sexy little heels is enough for me to give her up.

"You really shouldn't," I tell her, my mouth close to her ear and I swear I can feel her shiver just a little.

"Faith, if you seriously think you're even going to get the chance to talk me into this you're out of your mind," Buffy scolds and turns her head slightly trying to look at me but I have her pulled so tight against me it makes it near impossible.

I chuckle again and shake my head. "Thought never even crossed my mind," I tell her, because it seriously didn't. "Now stay," I tell her and tighten my grip on her waist. She shakes her head and tries to pull away but I won't let her. I know she's about to protest but I interrupt whatever it is she's about to say. "It's no big deal B, she was just leaving….right?" I yell the last part out loud as I look up to the brunette still leaning over the railing.

She chuckles and I can see the brow she raises before pushing herself off the rail and heads back towards my room. As she disappears out of sight I release my hold on Buffy, but I'm ready to pounce on her if she tries to leave again. She steps away but only far enough so she can turn to look at me. I give her my best dimpled grin but her glare doesn't waiver. Damn, that usually works.

Buffy briefly looks back up to make sure my guest hasn't made a reappearance and then turns back to face me. "What the hell is that?" She looks pissed, then she shakes her head. "I mean I know what that was but you didn't…I mean I didn't think….dammit Faith why didn't you tell me that you had...someone here," she says in a harsh whisper. "I… I wouldn't have…I…I could've come back another time," she manages to say and I can see her face starting to redden a little.

"I forgot," I shrug. Which is actually kind of true.

There's that indignant look again. "Faith, how the hell do you just forget you have a naked woman in your bedroom?" she all but yells.

I must say, that is a good question. However, in my defense I have to admit, if only to myself, that whenever Buffy walks into a room she has the ability to make me forgot that anyone else in the world exists. Case and point being the hot chick, now fully clothed that is walking down the stairway and towards us.

Buffy looks extremely uncomfortable, but ever the polite little Slayer she starts to speak. "I'm really, really sorry I interrupted," Buffy looks between the discarded girl and myself, "whatever it is I interrupted. My name is Buffy by the way," B says and actually extends her hand to shake the one of the other woman. I almost laugh at that but it I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it.

"I know exactly who you are, Faith has said so much about you." A sly smile crosses over her face, but she doesn't shake Buffy's hand. I'm confused and I'm sure it's written all over my face. How the hell does she know who Buffy is? I've never said shit about B to her, so what the fuck is she on about? I look at her suspiciously but she avoids my death glare.

"Oh, well…well okay," Buffy says just as confused as I am and pulls her hand back and drops it to her side. "Well its nice meeting you, woman whose name I still don't know. "

"Likewise," she says, and shoot then she looks at me expectantly.

"What?" I finally say.

She rolls her eyes at me. "I rode here with you, remember? Do you expect me just to walk back?"

"Shit," I say under my breath.

"Like I said, I should go," Buffy says and makes a move to pick up her boots.

"No….no, I um," I say looking around. "Hold up," I order and dash into the kitchen to grab my keys. When I come back I see Buffy has sat down and started to put her boots back on.

"Here," I say to the third woman in the room. "Take my Jeep, I'll come by in the morning and pick it up." Buffy's head shoots up at this and I avoid her gaze.

The brunette goes to take my keys, but I pull them back before she reaches them to issue a warning. "One scratch and your ass is mine," I tell her.

"More than it already has been? Oooh, I'm real scared," she teases with a wink, which makes me grin, and give up the keys. She takes them and heads towards the door. I watch her until she's gone and think about the hot piece of ass I'm giving up tonight and making a mental note to ask her when the hell did I mention B to her.

Running my hand through my hair I turn back to look at Buffy, she's looking at me again with something I can't decipher and once again my stomach is in knots. Really, what's up with that shit?

"What?" I ask her and scratch uncomfortably at my scalp.

"What? That's all you have to say?"

"I uh, I'm not sure what else I should be saying B," I answer really not knowing what she wants from me.

"Who was that?" she folds her arms across her chest in all her interrogating glory.

"Just some chick I know," I shrug feeling extremely uncomfortable now and refusing to meet her eyes.

"Oookay," she says slowly. "Just some chick you know that you're obviously sleeping with." She frowns then shakes her head. "Not that it matters that you're sleeping with her because that's obviously not my business, but she probably heard our conversation and you aren't worried about that?" she asks and throws her hands up slightly and drops them to her side.

"Nah, she knows that shit isn't always what it seems, that there is bad shit that goes on out there," I tell her and her eyes widened at this.

"So you've told her about you? About being a Slayer?" She's almost outraged at the thought.

I shake my head. "No…not exactly."

She's looking at me expectantly and then scoffs when I fail to say more. "Not exactly?"

"Yeah B," I say with a sigh remembering how I met the now discarded girl. "I saved her from a vamp one night, she saw me dust it. She was shaken up, but didn't seem all that surprised. She said she knew there was some weird shit out there, she'd just never come so close to it before. She asked me how I knew how to kill it and I told her that I watch a lot of horror movies," I finish with a smirk. Buffy apparently doesn't find anything amusing though and I clear my throat before wiping the smirk off my face.

"Okay so you save her from being a vamp snack and she repays you by what? Sleeping with you?" She asks the question as if she's disgusted by the notion. And really that's not how it is….well, kinda it is, but not really.

"C'mon B, has it ever occurred to you that she's fucking me because she actually wants to and not because she owes me one? If you hadn't noticed, I'm hot shit, she should consider herself lucky," I joke trying to lighten things up a bit, but B's still not looking pleased with me and I can't for the life of me figure out what her fucking problem is.

"Okay then, how does she know me?" she asks, and once again crosses her arms over her chest.

I frown slightly at that and think on it, but come up with nothing. I've never told her about Buffy, she's not her business. "I honestly don't know B, I've never mentioned you to her, I don't know why she said that," I explain truthfully but she looks like she doesn't believe me.

She regards me for a minute before she continues. "So she's just some chick you know that you let drive your car?" she asks suspiciously.

"Ken and I will go pick it up in the morning, it's no big deal, really," I answer coolly.

"She's driving your car Faith, it's kind of a big deal. And Kennedy knows her?"

I chuckle slightly. "Probably."

She's looking at me all weird and that fucking knot in my stomach seems to be twisting, it's almost painful.

"What?" I ask defensively, not knowing why it's that big of a deal. I mean okay, I rarely let people drive my Jeep, but I needed to get her out of here quick, fast and in a hurry. There was no way I was dumping B and that was the best I could come up with.

She doesn't say anything but only keeps looking at me all weird and shit, and it makes me feel all fucked up inside. Why I don't know.

"Are…are you dating her?" she asks softly while staring at me intently.

"No, I don't date….you know that," I reply, finally taking a look at her.

"Well she knows your friends, or at least one of them. Is she like your…your um, your girlfriend or something?" Comes the next question and she sounds so uncomfortable asking me that.

"Or something," I tell her.

"What does that mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything B, I told you, she's just some chick I know," I say and look away. It's kind of the truth, she is just some chick I know, but I have been fucking her for a while, at least when I come home I hook up with her, but for some reason I don't tell Buffy that. It's probably the closest thing I've had to a 'relationship' since…..well since forever, but it's definitely not a relationship, she's just easy to be around and doesn't expect anything from me other than what I give her.

"Obviously for a while then since you give her the key to your car like it's nothing." She says it like she's trying to wrap her mind around something.

"I've known her for a little bit," I say vaguely with a shrug.

"How long is a little bit?"

I feel like I'm being grilled here and I don't like it. Why does she even care? Could it be because it's a chick and I haven't exactly been upfront and open about my need to change my sex diet up a bit. It's not like I've ever had to explain it to anyone. Besides, why would it be all that surprising to anyone, especially B since I flirt with her constantly? So what's the big deal?

"Is it because she's a chick?" I have to know. Her eyes widen and her mouth opens but nothing comes out. Hello. Deer meet headlights.

"No!" She damn near yells. "I mean…no."

I cross my arms over my chest and pin her with a look. "You sure? Because you're acting like a grade A homophobic fuck right now."

"I am not!" She really does yell now. "My best friend is a lesbian Faith so that's the stupidest thing you could think right now!"

"Then what the hell is the problem Buffy?"

"There is no problem Faith. I….I'm just." She shakes her head. "I don't care okay. You've just never told me that you were into girls. I mean I suspected." She looks aside before looking back to me. "It's actually not surprising at all, even though it kind of is. I just….it's…it's nothing." She shakes her head again. "And stop avoiding my question! How long is a little bit that you've not been dating her?" she demands.

I eye her and the defensive posture she's taken up now. I can tell she's pissed and I'm still not convinced that it's not the chick thing, but I prefer to choose my battles and this isn't one I want to get into with her because I'm sure I'll end up telling her it's her I'd rather be giving it to. "A few months I suppose," I finally answer.

"A few months," she says softly, like she's talking to herself. "So you are dating her?" She says more than asks, and again that knot in my stomach just keeps on turning.

"I said no," I tell her feeling a little offended. "Why does it matter?"

"I…I guess it doesn't," she shakes of her head and reaches down and grabs her boots.

"What are you doing?" I am standing beside her now, panicking slightly and I can't help but feel like I'm overreacting just a bit.

She looks at me weird again which makes me feel all fucked up again before turning her attention back to her boots. "I'm leaving," there's an air of finality in her statement.

"Why?" I ask, hating the whiney tone that I can hear in my voice.

She sighs and stop what she's doing. "I don't know, I…I just feel….I feel all weird I guess," she says before going back to putting her boots back on.

"Why?" I find myself asking again and sounding like a broken record.

Now it's her turn to shrug, "I guess for ruining your night."

"Ah c'mon B, you didn't ruin anything, and she's gone now, so you don't have to go. Stay," It feels like I'm practically begging her because I really don't want her to leave.

She shakes her head finally getting one of her boots laced. "No, it's already late and I should head home." She's not looking at me and I feel like I've been punched in the gut.

"There's a meeting tomorrow at noon, I guess to see what Giles has dug up on these new vampires. So I'll see you around at the castle I suppose." She's still not looking at me as she speaks. She finishes with her other boot before she stands and grabs her vest to put it on. Once she has it buckled, her eyes finally settle on me and she looks all sad and shit before she walks towards the door. It fucks me up inside even more.

"Yeah, I'll be around," I announce after her, because it's not like I have shit else to do with the lock down she declared but isn't adhering too. I don't say anything else, I just watch as she leaves. Even though I want to stop her, I'm just floored right now at her reaction. Call me stupid but it was almost like she was jealous or something, but I know that isn't the case.

We're just friends.