Author's Notes: Kind of hammered this one out pretty quickly after I finished writing Closer. Many thanks to my awesome beta Mikey who made some sense out of a couple lines I wrote that really didn't make much sense at all...and thanks to everyone who read and reviewed Closer, much love goes out to you :)

One week had passed since she woke up with no memory of what had happened or how she was seemingly asleep one night and then nearly two months had passed by. Two months! Two months of her life gone, just like that. Giles and Willow had tried to explain to her all that had happened, why she couldn't remember, but she pushed them away, refusing to believe the things they were saying were true.

A vampire. With a soul.

In love. With Faith. Faith!

With a frustrated groan she pulled her pillow over her head and tried to drown out the sounds that drifted in from the corridors. It was never quiet in the castle, not even at night. Every night for the past week, just after midnight, she would hear Faith in the training room pounding away on one of the punching bags. She knew it was Faith; she'd gone down the second night to find out who it was. She'd caught herself standing there in the darkened doorway just watching her for nearly half an hour, anger bubbling inside of her. Confusion as to what the hell she was even doing there in the first place. Had she not been clear when she stated after Robin and the younger slayers' deaths that she didn't want anything to do with her?

Kicking off the sheets, suddenly feeling too hot even in the dry cool air, she lay there breathing in heavily, trying to collect her thoughts and trying to make sense of the dreams she'd been having since she'd come 'back'. She knew something was different. Not just with herself, but with life in general and with the events that had unfolded, events she couldn't remember. The dreams were flashes of images, of what felt like memories. She woke up every morning drenched in sweat with a delicious ache between her legs and smiled at the feeling until she remembered just what she'd been dreaming of.

Faith.

She didn't believe Giles or Willow about what had really happened to her, and she certainly wasn't about to talk to anyone about these dreams. She couldn't understand how or why she was even having them in the first place, though, and it was making her wonder if there was a string of truth to what they were saying. She used to know they would never lie to her, but everything had been different over the last while. She was no longer feeling quite herself, pushing everyone away and withdrawing into herself. She felt more alone than she ever had since she'd been called. She felt unloved and unwanted, unneeded, and nothing more than just what all the younger slayers thought of her as: General Buffy.

The one thing that really bothered her about the things she'd been told was the fact of how it all had started: She had gone out and tried to get herself killed. Killed! She scoffed at that in front of the others, but in the privacy of her own room she curled up on her bed and cried, wondering if they even knew how she felt and what she was going through. And through eavesdropping she'd heard Faith tell Giles what a mistake it had been to come there in the first place to help her. It made Buffy laugh. How the hell could Faith help her and with what?

Right back to Faith as always. She couldn't get her out of her head. Even when she just thought about her she got that old, warm and familiar hum deep in her body. She remembered it from back in Sunnydale, during the days before Faith had turned on all of them. But over all the anger and the hate, she chalked it up to mixed emotions and filed it away just as she had so many years ago. It was too easy to push aside what she felt for Faith. Now and then. It was all the same. It never changed. It never would. It was just the way it would always be. Just the thought of her now, weaselling her way back into her life the way she had, made her grind her teeth and clench her fists tight.

The sound of fists hitting the punching bag had become almost like music to her ears over the last week, only this time it was early morning and she knew the day had started for everyone in the castle but herself. She did as she pleased, came and went and slayed on her terms. But these sounds were different. Well timed and well connected to a certain dark, rogue slayer that went by the name of Faith.

"Bitch," she muttered angrily as she grabbed the pillow off of her head and tossed it clear across the room. "Would you get out of my head for two goddamn seconds?"

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down, she got up out of bed and quickly got dressed in what she'd worn the night before. She didn't even look at herself in the mirror. She couldn't stand to anymore. She hated who she had become and she didn't need a daily visual reminder of that. She had her thoughts to do just that. All in all, she just didn't care anymore. She hadn't since things with Victor ended badly. Very badly.

She had done nothing but try to forget about that tryst. It messed up her head, tore open her heart and she built up these walls she knew would never break down. That got her thinking about Satsu, though, and that was even worse. She'd used the poor girl; used her and tossed her away even knowing how Satsu had felt about her. Everyone was always in love with her. It was some kind of hero worship, it had to be. She would tell herself that every time these thoughts came to her and it made her feel slightly better, but it didn't help the fact that right now nobody was in love with her.

"Get a grip," she said to herself as she flung open the door and stepped out into the corridor.

She avoided running into anyone as she made her way down to the kitchen. She needed her coffee. If she hadn't smashed the coffee maker in her suite months ago, she wouldn't have had to leave her room until mid-afternoon. Giles was in the kitchen, of course, sitting at the table sipping his tea with a newspaper spread out in front of him. He didn't lift his head from whatever story had his full attention as she walked over to the coffee maker, sighing out in relief at the full pot that had literally just finished brewing.

"Oh, good morning, Buffy. Did you sleep well?" Giles asked as he lifted his head and offered her a friendly smile.

"Like the dead," she chuckled dryly.

Giles tensed and removed his glasses, shaking his head at her poor excuse for a joke. She honestly couldn't help herself. She still didn't truly believe all that had happened no matter who told her. She wanted to believe it, she really did, but something felt off about the whole thing. If it really happened, why didn't she remember anything? They told her she was suffering from amnesia and it did seem to make sense; two months had passed and she had not a single memory of a day of it. Still she couldn't believe it.

She shrugged it off and reached for the sugar. She nearly dropped the bowl to the ground when a group of younger slayers ran into the kitchen, laughing like children and frazzling her nerves. All her senses had been on high alert since she woke up a week ago and she couldn't shake them or tune anything out. She did notice how acutely aware she was whenever Faith was around. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, sending shivers down her spine, and it only increased whenever she got closer to Faith. She did keep her distance; she knew if she didn't she'd lash out at her and it wouldn't end up well. There was a deep woven hate entwined with betrayal and god knows what else.

She took her coffee mug and slipped out of the kitchen, wandering around the corridors until she came to a stop just outside the training room. She hadn't actually stepped foot inside of there for nearly a year; she just couldn't be bothered to. This morning, though, something was drawing her in and she breezed past the open doors, coming to a sudden stop when her eyes fell upon Faith at the same punching bag she'd seen her using before. The same one Buffy always preferred back when she had trained daily. Her breath caught in her chest as Faith stopped and turned to look at her.

"Hey, B."

Buffy just raised an eyebrow as she walked over and sat on the stack of spare mats a few feet from where Faith stood. She said nothing as her eyes roamed over Faith's body, drinking her in and stuck in a trance she couldn't break herself out of. She had no idea why she was looking at her the way she was, like she was actually checking her out. It had to have been the dreams she'd been having that were playing sick games with her mind and her libido.

"You're always in here," Buffy said stiffly as she watched Faith resume a perfectly timed series of jabs and kicks against the bag.

"Helps me take my mind off of shit," Faith replied, keeping the rhythm and barely taking a breath as she kept her eyes trained on the bag in front of her. "Did you want something?"

"No."

"I really think we need to talk, B."

"No, we don't, F."

She saw the chill run through Faith's body at the coldness of her voice. She smirked as Faith gripped on to the bag and closed her eyes as she took in a few deep breaths. She sipped her coffee, her eyes never leaving Faith as she watched her try to calm herself down. She could see Faith's hands shaking and she wasn't sure if it was because she'd been at it for hours this morning already or because of something else. Because of her. She had to remind herself she didn't care what kind of effect she had on Faith. The truth of the matter was, she didn't want Faith there and she desperately needed to find a way to drill that into her stubborn head.

"Buffy, I..."

"Don't," she snapped, holding herself back from leaping at Faith and beating her senseless. The urge was in her, consuming her, but she had to keep her cool. She'd snap sooner or later and she knew Faith knew it too. "You want to talk? Fine. I want to know what the hell you are still doing here! Didn't I make it clear the other day that I don't want you here?"

"I get that and you've made it perfectly clear, B. But Giles wants me here. Willow and Xander and even your sister want me here. I'm not going anywhere because you can't stand to look at me. Besides, B, if you really hate me that much, wouldn't you have kicked my ass to Hell and back by now?"

"I'm trying to keep my cool."

Faith chuckled as she shook her head and began unwrapping the tape from her hands. "You have never been able to keep your cool around me, B."

"Things change."

"Sure do. People change too," Faith whispered under her breath just loud enough for Buffy to hear her. "I know you don't believe anyone when they tell you what's happened, but it happened, Buffy. It all really fucking happened! God, I always thought I was the stubborn one. How fucking wrong I was."

Buffy wasn't in the mood to get into this with Faith. She should have just got up and walked away, but something was keeping her there. She had this lingering feeling that they had to work things out despite the tension that continued to grow between them every time they came face to face in the last week. She had to be honest with herself: She rarely noticed the things Faith did, always too wrapped up in her own little world to give a flying fuck about anyone else but herself and the people she loved. Faith wasn't one of those people and never would be. But the way she caught Faith looking at her sometimes, with longing in her eyes, puzzled her. She was sure Faith had never looked at her like that before.

There was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that she was wrong about not believing everything that had happened. She wanted to shake it off, but she couldn't. What if she really was wrong about everything? What if she was wrong about Faith? What if she was wrong about how she really, truly felt about Faith under the layers of hatred she'd built up?

She'd been so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice that Faith had left until she snapped out of it and found herself alone in the training room. With a heavy sigh she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. How she found herself in situations such as this, she wasn't sure, but life seemed to have an endless supply of curveballs to throw in her direction.

Satsu had been one of them. Even at that time, she'd been more lonely than anything else. It was more about scratching that itch than finding someone to love at the time. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if that's all it had ever been since she'd been with Angel. She'd never been able to fall in love, her heart seemingly already belonging to someone else. It didn't belong to Angel and it hadn't for a very long time, but it made her think hard and dig deep, only to shy away from answers she knew she wasn't ready for.

She set her mug down on the mats and walked over to the bag Faith had been using. The leather was still warm and it still swayed lightly from the reinforced chain that it hung from. She placed a hand over the well-worn spot in the middle and closed her eyes as she tried to clear her head enough to make sense of all the things running wild through her mind. She thought of the dreams she'd been having, how good she felt when she woke up from them and how angry she felt when she realized just who she'd been dreaming of. It made her wonder if the anger was just masking something else; true feelings perhaps. Feelings she wouldn't even admit to herself.

"She always does this. Gets into my head and under my skin and I can't get her out!"

Taking out her frustrations, her anger and a flurry of other emotions on the bag, she barely even noticed the pain in her knuckles until she stopped to take a deep breath and felt the warm blood trickling down her fingers. Time seemed to stand still as she stared down at her hands and watched the blood slowly drip off the tips of her fingers. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream out until she lost her voice. She wanted to beat the ever-living shit out of Faith and for a split second, a very quick split second, she just wanted to hug her and have Faith tell her everything was going to be all right.

Shuddering at the conflicted thoughts she was having that made absolutely no sense to her, she grabbed her mug of coffee and a fresh towel off the shelf near the door as she walked out. Thinking of Faith wasn't a new thing, but to have her invading her mind every second that passed definitely was. She was barely out the training room door before she was hit with a flurry of emotions as if she'd just walked into a wall. She stopped and clutched at her chest, trying to breathe as a flood of images flashed through her mind. It was too real. She could not only see what she was seeing, but she could feel it too.

Faith whispering words of love, her warm breath tickling her ear. Faith kissing her so deeply, so passionately she could feel the weakness in her knees even now. Faith letting her take her, fuck her, until she nearly passed out from the pleasure she was giving her. Faith just holding her, their bodies fitting so perfectly together as they slept.

As suddenly as those images had flooded through her mind, they were gone and she was left gasping for air, her heart racing wildly out of control. She'd had flashes of memories she didn't remember actually happening, but they'd never been that intense before. Not even in those dreams she'd been having every night for the past week had they felt so real. She braced a hand against the wall, trying to steady herself as her entire body began to shake. She couldn't understand what was happening to her or why it was happening to her. It wasn't like she could talk to anyone about this either. What was she going to say when she wouldn't even know where to start?

She was beginning to question what she really believed had happened. She was beginning to question herself and the way she felt when it came to Faith. What did she really feel? There was more than betrayal, more than hate rooted deep under the surface. Her mouth suddenly grew dry and she stopped herself from even thinking what she knew was coming, slamming her fist against the wall before she headed for the stairs.

Stopping on the landing, she couldn't keep herself from slumping against the wall as she tried to fight off the tears. What was happening to her? She just woke up one day and everything had gone and changed on her. It was worse than the time she'd been dead and gone and had to claw her way out of her own grave. Okay, maybe not that bad, but it sure felt like it in moments like this. She couldn't even sort through any of the thoughts or feelings that were consuming her, eating her alive, taunting her and pulling her in every direction she sure as hell didn't want to go.

She pushed herself off the wall, making her way up the rest of the stairs and down the long corridor to her suite. Her knuckles were throbbing with a dull pain, but it was no match for the pain she was going through as she was being torn through too many different emotions at once. Flinging the bloody towel into the laundry basket by the closet, she made her way over the mess of clothes strewn around the suite to the bathroom. She hadn't let anyone in her room all week; in fact, she hadn't let anyone in there for a very long time. This was her place, her sanctuary, even her own personal prison. Her feelings about it varied wildly depending on the day.

Today it was her sanctuary and she felt like a prisoner trapped in her own mind with what felt like someone else's memories and thoughts.

She cleaned up, watching the blood wash from her hands and staring down at the sink, the water running red, then pink and finally clear. For the first time in a long time she allowed herself to lift her head and stare at her reflection in the mirror. She looked tired, depressed, agitated and just plain pissed off. It was no wonder that a lot of the younger slayers had been avoiding her as much as they could. She was a mess and it showed. She fought the urge to punch the mirror, not needing any more bad luck than she already had. It wasn't like she was superstitious, but if there was anything she'd learned in life, you could never be too sure about anything and absolutely anything was possible.

Like her trying to get herself killed, being so badly injured that Willow had to use a spell to heal her, a spell that turned her into a vampire. A vampire with a soul. Like her falling in love with Faith and not even realizing just how she truly felt until she just let herself feel instead of standing guard of all feelings she always feared would end up breaking her apart in the end. Anything and everything was truly possible. And she was just beginning to realize how true that was. It explained her dreams, the loss of memory, the conflicted feelings she felt around Faith and even just thinking of her. But it still didn't explain why she still felt so hopeless, lost and alone.

She knew before the knock on the door came just who was on the other side. Her body was buzzing, her skin tingling at ghost memories of Faith and how it had felt to touch her, be touched by her. Buffy shivered as she walked out of the bathroom and headed for the door. By the time she reached the door and flung it open, Faith was already down the corridor and heading around the corner that would lead her to her room. She wanted to call out to her, but she held herself back. Whatever she'd end up saying to Faith if she did, she didn't really want to hurt her again.

Seeing that hurt in Faith eyes the few times they'd talked over the past week drove deep inside of her, pulled her apart for reasons she wasn't so sure of. Seeing the longing and the hope in Faith's eyes made her wonder if the woman really did love her. Faith was patient with her, never retaliating whenever the bitchy, snarky comments slid out. She closed the door and sighed out loudly, finally giving in to what her heart had been screaming for the last ten years or so.

She was in love with Faith. She is in love with Faith.

There was no sense in denying it to herself anymore. Even just admitting it in her head now, embracing the fact, she felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. No more treading down the river of denial. It was dragging her down and pulling her apart, piece by piece. She choked back tears of happiness and even relief, walking over to the couch and sitting down heavily. The realization made her feel a little shell-shocked, but it also felt right. It felt like she should have just let go and admitted it to herself so many years ago. It could have saved a lot of bullshit from going down between the two of them, most of the hate she felt for Faith stemming from the fact she was masking her own feelings for her.

She shoved the clothes off the couch and fell onto it face first, burying her head into the soft, plush pillows. The tears flowed freely now and she couldn't stop them, every tear feeling as if she was getting out so much of what she should have many years ago. The tears slowed after what felt like hours and she lifted her head from the tear-soaked pillow, blinking away the last few that were left. The most sobering thought hit her as she looked around her suite: She was in love with Faith. If everything really did happen the way the others were telling her then that meant one other thing: Faith was in love with her too.

Not having a clue how to take this shred of information as it really sunk in, she lay back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how she'd deal with this. How was she going to deal with this? It's not like she could just jump into something with Faith when she couldn't look past their heavy history together. All these mixed, conflicted emotions she'd been having for the past week were catching up to her.

"Buffy?" Dawn called out quietly as she knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

With a heavy sigh, she got up from the couch and walked over to the door. "What do you want, Dawnie?"

"Have you been crying?"

"Yes," she replied as she choked back the tears. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to come see how you've been holding up since you...came back."

"What does it look like?"

"You aren't handling it very well," Dawn said softly as she pulled her in for a tight hug. "You don't want to talk about it, do you?"

"How much do you know about what happened?"

"Enough."

Buffy dropped her arms from around Dawn and stepped back away from her. "I want to believe everything, I really do, but it's so hard when I don't remember!"

"I can't even imagine what that's like," she said as she followed Buffy over to the couch, an eyebrow rising in disgust and alarm as she looked around the mess in the room. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Where do I even start?"

"At the beginning," Buffy replied as she pulled one of the plush pillows to her chest. "Start with why Faith is here."

"You wanted her here. You were...you nearly died, Buffy. Nobody knew how to talk to you or reach out to you. She was the only one. She helped you. She helped you pull through and out of whatever deep dark corner of your mind you'd locked yourself up in. You have no idea how grateful we all are for what she's done for you."

"How did she help me?" Buffy asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm having a hard time believing someone like Faith could have helped me."

"She was just there. She was your friend. You two spent a lot of time together every day just talking, I guess, and then she...you and her were...you know," Dawn said nervously as she grabbed the other plush pillow and began to fidget with the edges. "You told me that Faith told you how she felt first and that everything seemed to fall into place after that and when you...when Willow did that spell..."

"What?"

"Everything changed but you and Faith; it didn't seem to do anything other than bring you two closer together."

"And you were okay with me being with her?"

"Buffy," Dawn sighed as she turned to look at her, "I'm still okay with it. I just want you to remember, everyone does. If you knew what Faith has been going through since you came back..."

Buffy closed her eyes as she tried to let what Dawn was saying sink in, tried to believe it with everything she had. It was still too hard. Too confusing. Too unreal.

"I asked Willow how long it'd be for you to get those memories back. She doesn't know if you'll ever get them back."

"I don't know if I even want them back," she said under her breath. "Maybe it's better this way?"

"How is this better? You've gone back to where you were before all of this started! The only difference now is we all understand what you're going through a hell of a lot better than we did the first time," Dawn exclaimed, breathing heavily as it was clear she was struggling to keep control of her emotions, just as Buffy was. "I know you can't believe all of this and I know how hard it is to deal with this too, but you aren't alone, Buffy. You never were. You just pushed us all away. You pushed yourself away."

Buffy let her tears begin to fall, knowing how right Dawn was. She laughed a little as she looked over at her. "When did you get so smart, Dawnie?"

"I've always been smart," she replied with a half-hearted laugh. "I needed you to know how worried we all are about you. I needed you to know that despite how you must feel right now, you aren't in this alone even if it feels like you are."

"What am I going to do?"

"About what?"

"About everything, about Faith?"

"Well," Dawn said slowly as she put an arm around Buffy's shoulders, "how do you feel about her even with being all amnesia-girl?"

"I know I...feel something for her."

"Do you love her?" Dawn asked. Buffy slowly nodded her head as she lowered her eyes to the pillow in her lap. "Do you want to tell her that?"

"How?"

"I don't know how. I'm not exactly experienced in these kinds of things. Xander's the first guy I've...been in love with and it just sort of happened, as you know. I really don't need to tell that story all over again, do I?"

"Please don't," Buffy chuckled as she shook her head. "God, Dawnie, all week I've been feeling so many things and thinking about everything. Over thinking probably. Every time I just think about her I..."

She wasn't sure how to put how she felt into words that wouldn't make things uncomfortable. The things she felt whenever she was around Faith were things she didn't want anyone else to know that she felt. She was still trying to come to terms with everything she felt and thought about when Faith was on her mind. This was her one-time enemy, a woman she'd had a deeply rooted hate for, but she was beginning to see that hate was just shadowing her true feelings. She laughed at herself just thinking about it now, earning her a rather confused and curious look from Dawn.

"Let me guess, every time you see her you just want to..." Dawn chuckled as she trailed off, unable to even say it herself. "Have you always wanted to...you know...with Faith?"

"No!"

"Denial," Dawn coughed, giving Buffy a wink when her eyes flew open in mild surprise. "Come on, Buffy. She's hot. She's sexy. She's a little dangerous and wild and rough around the edges. She's also very sweet."

"Sweet? Are you sure we're talking about the same Faith?"

"She's also got a big heart, but you couldn't possibly see that because you haven't given her the time of day since you've been back. I don't know how you two bonded before or how you lost that stick up your butt, but I do know that you need to find a way to get back to that point. You both need it, Buffy. You both are feeling the same things right now: Lost and alone. You need to find each other again and work through whatever you need to work though together."

"Again," Buffy sighed out, wishing she could let that sink in. She was dancing between the line of believing it and not with one little thought or emotion pulling her to one side or another. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but..."

"You can tell me anything," Dawn said with a warm smile as she gave Buffy's hand a squeeze. "I won't say a word to anyone else, either, if you don't want me to."

"I've been having dreams and I had a...flashback, at least that's what I think it was. I don't know, Dawn. It's all so confusing to me right now. I just want to curl up in bed and hope that when I wake up this will have all been some really strange nightmare."

"What part?"

"My whole life," she said under her breath as the tears sprang to her eyes. "I just can't deal anymore, Dawnie."

"You can," she assured her as she moved closer to her and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "You can deal with anything, Buffy. You are stronger than you think you are even if you don't feel like you are. I'll tell you as many times as it takes for you to believe that you are not alone, that you never have been and that you never will be."

They held onto each other for the longest time before Dawn pulled away, telling Buffy she would come back later and talk some more if she was feeling up to it. She left Buffy sitting there alone, hugging her pillow, tears staining her cheeks and her thoughts completely consuming her mind.

She'd basically admitted to her own sister that she loved Faith. It didn't make her feel any better about it either. She could still feel the seething anger coursing through her every time she just thought about her, but it was less now, much less than it had been just a few hours before. It didn't help that whenever she closed her eyes all she could see looking right back at her was Faith, that look of hurt and longing showing so clearly in her eyes. It hurt since she knew exactly how Faith was feeling. She was feeling it too, but she wasn't even sure if it was their connection that made her feel what Faith was feeling or if it was something else. She did know just from that look in Faith's eyes that it touched her deep down inside, deeper than her heart and possibly as deep as her soul.

She cringed as she thought about how much of a bitch she'd been around Faith all week. Even with their past, Faith really didn't deserve to be talked to and treated the way she'd been treating her. Like she didn't matter. Like she was nothing. She knew Faith was everything to her. Faith did matter despite the past; people did change, and even through her doubt she felt it ringing true deep in her heart that Faith had changed from the woman she used to know. She held back her tears as she got up from the couch and headed out of the room, letting the connection she shared only with Faith pull her, lead her.

They had to talk. She couldn't sit there and let her thoughts consume her and drive her insane without talking to Faith. They had to start somewhere, even if it was from square one. They had to get past everything that they'd been through, together and alone. As much as she didn't want to, as hard as it would be, she knew she had to. She needed to apologize to Faith for the things she'd said to her recently, for telling her she wasn't wanted here. It wasn't entirely true, even though she certainly meant it with complete conviction during those anger-fuelled outbursts.

She wandered the corridors through the castle, following her connection she felt with Faith as it grew stronger, sending tiny shock waves through her body until she had to stop and breathe in deeply to try and control her now shaking, shuddering body. She opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside. Faith was leaning against the railing with her back to her. She didn't flinch when Buffy stepped outside nor did she even bother to turn around to look at her. She didn't need to see Faith's face to know that she'd been crying.

She wanted to reach out to her, pull her in close and hold her tight. She wanted to tell her that no matter how much had gone on over the last week, the last several months and years, that somehow everything would be all right. But she didn't. She couldn't. She still felt so far away even if Faith was right there in front of her.

"What do you want, Buffy?"

Her voice sounded so hopeless, so broken, and it tore Buffy apart inside, causing her own tears to well up in her eyes. She watched as Faith took in a deep, shuddering breath before she lit a cigarette, still keeping her back turned to her.

"I wanted to talk."

"So did I, but you missed your chance when I wanted to talk earlier, B. Don't feel like talking right now."

"Faith, I..."

"Leave me alone," she hissed out, followed by a small strangled sound. Buffy knew Faith was trying valiantly to hide the fact that she was crying.

"Faith, would you please listen to me?"

"No. Just go away. Please, B. I'd kind of like to be alone right now."

Buffy sighed out softly as she turned and opened the door. She wasn't going to push Faith to talk to her. She didn't want to fight with her either. She just wanted to let her know how she felt, but it'd have to wait. She couldn't force this on her terms like she'd always done in the past. She had to wait until Faith was ready to hear everything she had to say. She only hoped that somehow Faith knew what she felt and that she was ready to let it all out.

That she was ready to let Faith know that her heart belonged to her, to share with her this newly found realization that it always had and always would.