Title: Shelter

Summary: Faye is freaking out after Diana's 'Almost death' in slither. Can Cassie convince her to talk to Diana? Fayana. Chamberlake friendship.

Rating: R/T (for swearing)

A/N: I still don't have these characters down but…meh. I'll practice. Feel free to send me a prompt over at my Tumblr if you want.

"You're welcome."

Faye whirled around at the sound of the voice, her stature tense and her expression guarded as if she expected to be attacked. What had happened the previous night didn't exactly make it easy to relax, especially when she was alone. When she noticed Cassie was standing behind her, she turned back to the window she had previously been staring out of with a troubled look on her face.

"What for?" Faye finally murmured when it became apparent that Cassie wasn't going to say anything else.

"Saving Diana." Cassie answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Faye stiffened for a moment at the suggestion but quickly forced herself to relax "I wasn't planning on thanking you."

"You were thinking it." Cassie stated as she slowly walked over to stand next to the brunette.

"You think you're psychic now to go along with all of your other powers?" Faye asked, not a hint of her usual smirk playing on her lips "If you are, you're clearly not very good."

Cassie blinked at the contempt audible in Faye's words "I don't think I'm psychic." She corrected with a shake of her head "But I'm not oblivious either."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Faye lied, crossing her arms defensively in front of her chest as she stared out of the window.

Cassie pursed her lips in response but otherwise didn't say anything as she stared intently at the clearly troubled girl next to her. She had only known Faye for a relatively short amount of time but she was aware that her lack of eye contact and the defensive way she was holding herself were cause for concern. Faye was usually full of confidence, her eyes fixated and her body language open but now she seemed to be drawing into herself, both physically and emotionally (or at least more emotionally than usual).

"Would you stop staring at me?" Faye snapped irritably "It's creepy and you're making me uncomfortable."

"You should talk to Diana." Cassie stated quietly as she leaned against the wall next to the window, her gaze unfaltering despite Faye's annoyed statement. She didn't fail to notice Faye's subtle flinch at the mention of Diana's name "Or even me."

"I have nothing to talk about." Faye said firmly "And what makes you think I would talk to you about anything anyway?"

"Look, I don't care who you talk to as long as you talk to someone. What almost happened to Diana is clearly eating you up inside and if…"

"Fuck off." Faye turned to Cassie, her eyes blazing with barely restrained anger "You don't know me and you have no idea what I'm thinking or feeling so mind your own damn business and leave me the fuck alone, okay?"

Cassie was startled into taking a small step back but other than that she held her ground, growing slightly irritated herself "Fine, I'll leave you alone. But if you keep pushing people away that's the way you're going to end up, Faye…alone." She stared at the brunette for a moment longer before shaking her head and turning to walk towards the stairs.

"I should have been the one to save her."

Cassie, who had been a few steps away from the stairs when Faye had mumbled the statement only barely heard it but as soon as she did she stopped short and turned around. Faye was still looking out of the window meaning Cassie couldn't read any of the emotions on her face so she was unsure as to what context in which to take the admission "What do you mean?" she waited for a moment but silence was the only reply to her question and Cassie jumped to the logical conclusion "I told you that what I did was a circle thing. It doesn't mean that I have more power than you or…" Faye laughed bitterly at Cassie's statement and the girl in question trailed off "What?"

"You really think all I care about is power?" Faye asked, finally turning to face Cassie.

"I didn't mean it like that." Cassie said quietly as she took a couple of steps forward "But if you weren't talking about the power what were you talking about?"

"Nothing." Faye answered listlessly "It doesn't matter."

"It's Diana, right?" Cassie guessed curiously "I mean I know I was five seconds away from dying so I was slightly distracted but…it's obvious that you care about her."

"We're barely even friends." Faye argued bitterly "Diana and I are acquaintances at best."

"That's not true." Cassie said confidently "And you don't have to be best friends with somebody to care about them."

Faye seemed to ponder the idea for a moment but eventually shook her head "Why are we even talking about Diana? This has nothing to do with her."

"Because what happened yesterday is clearly affecting you." Cassie explained casually "And I know it's not just because we all almost died, it's because she almost died. The way you reacted yesterday makes that pretty clear."

"Thank you Dr. Seuss." Faye smirked despondently "Now if you're finished analysing me, you can leave."

"I can't help you if you won't talk to me, Faye."

"I don't want or need your help, Cassie." Faye mimicked mockingly "Leave me alone."

"You obviously do need my help if your mood is anything to go by." Cassie disagreed reasonably "You haven't even talked to Diana since last night and now you're avoiding us all."

"You assume I'm avoiding you just because I want to be alone for all of twenty-four hours?"

"Yes." Cassie answered simply "We're vulnerable when we're alone and I don't like the idea of you being unprotected."

"Why don't you go and play Saint Cassie somewhere else?" Faye asked irritably "Preferably with somebody who gives a toss about what you have to say…did you try Adam first?"

"Are you always this rude when somebody is trying to help you?" Cassie countered.

Faye rolled her eyes but other than that she offered no reply to the question.

"You should talk to Diana." Cassie repeated for what felt to Faye like the millionth time.

"Talk to her about what?" Faye exclaimed angrily, finally losing her patience with the blonde "About the fact that she almost died or about the fact that I was just going to sit there and watch it happen?"

Cassie was silent for a long moment as she recalled Faye's stricken yet incredibly subtle reaction to Diana's life being threatened. At the time, Cassie had been distracted by the matter of her own impending doom yet she hadn't failed to notice when the brunette had screwed her eyes tightly shut and bowed her head in a futile attempt to block out what had been about to happen "Faye, there was nothing you could have done…"

"Youdid something!" Faye pointed out.

"The circle did something." Cassie corrected meekly "But you were tied to a chair. There's nothing else you could have done."

Faye shook her head silently in response, an angry look of disbelief written across her features and turned to stare out of the window again.

This time Cassie joined her in her pensive silence, once again moving to lean against the wall next to the window.

"She always managed to be there to 'rescue' me even when it seems impossible." Faye murmured, her gaze focused intently on nearby tree though her eyes remained unfocused as if she wasn't really seeing it "Even when I hate her for trying, she does it anyway."

"Only because she can." Cassie said quietly "The situation last night was different. We were all in danger…Not just Diana."

Faye chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully as if she was taking what Cassie had said into consideration.

"Diana is worried about you." Cassie quietly informed her.

"Then why didn't she come herself?"

"She was going to but I could tell that she didn't really want to go out so I offered to find you for her." Cassie answered with a shrug.

"Guilty conscience?" Faye asked, arching an eyebrow in challenge.

"I have nothing to feel guilty about." Cassie stated, though she looked decidedly uncomfortable at the suggestion "I've done nothing wrong."

"Right." Faye looked sceptical but she chose to stay silent on the subject.

"You should talk to Diana." Cassie said again.

"Will you top bugging me if I do?" Faye scowled, though there was no real malice in her voice "You're really starting to get on my nerves."

"Deal." Cassie smiled broadly, happy that she had managed to convince Faye to talk her issues out with Diana "And if you ever need someone else to talk to…"

"Sure, whatever." Faye cut in before Cassie could finish the sentence "I'm out of here." She turned and started for the front door but paused unsurely halfway there, deliberating as to whether or not to leave right away "Shit…" she muttered rolling her eyes at herself even as she turned back around. Cassie was still staring out of the window so she was very much unaware of Faye's internal battle.

"Cassie?"

Cassie turned her head and gave Faye a questioning look "Yeah?"

"Nothing…" Faye answered reluctantly "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Cassie smirked to herself despite her dark mood. Was Faye, the uncontested master of doing stupid things seriously telling her not to? Before Cassie had a chance to voice her thoughts Faye had turned and walked away, leaving the blonde alone. With a sigh Cassie turned back to the window and absently rubbed her chest, vaguely missing the intoxicatingly dark unadulterated power she had experienced the night before.

XXXX

"Hey."

Diana startled slightly at the sudden interruption and glanced up from her book of shadows to the door, only to see Faye leaning on the doorway with an unsure smirk on her lips.

"Where have you been?" Diana blurted out as she moved her book out of the way and shuffled slightly closer to the edge of her bed. After not seeing Faye for over 24 hours she was overwhelmed with the desire to hug her senseless while at the same time yelling at her for causing her to worry but she forced herself to remain seated, unsure as to how Faye would react to such an eager greeting "I was worried."

Faye swallowed heavily and visibly shifted under Diana's intense gaze "I had some things I needed to think about."

"And you had to do these things alone?" Diana asked in disbelief "Even after what happened to us last night? How could you be so reckless, Faye? We're more vulnerable now that we've ever been before with Nick gone and the witch hunters trying to kill us. You could have been…"

"Hurt, I know." Faye rolled her eyes and slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. Despite the move she made no effort to get closer to Diana and merely remained leaning against the door "Cassie already tried to give me that lecture."

"Cassie found you?" Diana asked cautiously "What did she say?"

"Just that you're worried and crap like that." Faye shrugged casually "I thought I should stop by to let you know I'm not dead or anything yet."

"Don't say things like that." Diana ordered sharply.

"Sorry." Faye offered sheepishly, having regretted the words as soon as they had left her mouth.

Diana was silent for a moment as her eyes swept over Faye's expression "Is something wrong?" she finally asked, noting a certain mischievous spark was clearly missing from the other girls eyes.

Faye shrugged in response "I'm fine, I guess."

"You guess?" Diana asked sceptically "That doesn't really reassure me Faye."

Faye bit her lip and scuffed her shoe against the carpet, the need to admit to what was bothering her almost overwhelming. She couldn't bring herself to do it however so instead she stared at Diana in silence.

"What is it?" Diana asked in concern when she noticed Faye's torn expression "You can tell me if there's something wrong Faye." Faye opened her mouth to speak and Diana felt a flare of hope but it was promptly extinguished when Faye closed her mouth again "Faye…"

"You freaked me out." Faye blurted out before she could stop herself.

Diana blinked in surprise at the admission. If she was honest it was the very last thing she had been expecting Faye to say "What do you mean?"

"You almost died last night." Faye reminded her, though she didn't look very happy about the admission "And I couldn't do a damn thing about it."

"I'm…Sorry?" Diana offered feebly "Is that why you've been avoiding me since yesterday? Because I 'freaked you out'?"

"No…yes…No." Faye frowned at her own jumbled up answers "I just fucking …I was so …oh, fuck it." A determined expression crossed her face and she marched right up to a pensive looking Diana, grabbed her face and kissed her roughly on the lips.

Diana squeaked at the shocking sensation of Faye's lips on her own, her eyes widening in alarm and her hand moving instinctively to Faye's shoulders. Instead of pushing the girl away however, she merely fisted cool leather in her fists and tugged her closer, allowing her eyes to slide shut.

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few seconds Faye pulled away unsurely.

"I think I might like you." Faye stated quietly "Or something. I don't really…"

"Shhh." Diana shushed Faye quickly and pulled her down onto the bed next to her "Just…Stop talking, okay? Words will only ruin this."

Faye wasn't quite sure what 'this' Diana was talking about but with the usually uptight brunette leaning in to kiss her passionately, while at the same time eagerly pressing her back onto the bed, she most certainly was not going to argue.

THE END