CHAPTER TWO

Faith hit the heavy bag with her bare fists with her earbuds in and the iPod—borrowed from Dawn—blasting Paramore loudly into her ears. She'd been out there in the garage since before the sun even rose, that agitated feeling making it impossible for her to sleep for more than a couple of hours.

She tried not to think about that late night conversation with Buffy and how it left her feeling afterwards. She tried to keep her focus on hitting the heavy bag, losing herself in the music flowing into her ears. It wasn't really her kind of music, but she couldn't find her iPod and Dawn had left hers out in the living room. It had a beat she could work out to, that's all that mattered and she hit the bag hard with a right hook that left it rattling on the chain.

"If you hit that thing any harder, you're going to break it," Buffy said just loud enough for Faith to hear her over the music.

Chuckling, Faith pulled the earbuds out and turned around to look at her. "Nah, I couldn't break it even if I tried."

"I did. Once."

Faith raised an eyebrow at her as she grabbed the towel off the chair near her. Wiping away at her forehead and the back of her neck, she tried not to stare at Buffy as she stood in the opening of the garage, the door up most of the way, the morning sunlight flooding in and all around her. There was no denying that Buffy was beautiful and it didn't matter now that she was thirty-two years old, she still looked as good as she did ten years ago—if not even better.

It didn't take her long to realize that Buffy was wearing sweatpants and a sports bra. Her eyes lingered over Buffy's body, over her still flat and strong stomach. Despite her claiming to be out of shape, she didn't look it.

"So, are we going to do it?"

"Huh?" Faith asked, blinking as she brought her attention back up to Buffy's face. The smile that curled over her lips reached her eyes. "Do what, B?"

"Whip me back into shape?"

Laughing, Faith nodded and watched as she entered the garage, looking around like the place was foreign to her. It'd been a while since Faith had seen her come back there. She shook her head and walked over to the stack of mats that lined the back wall and one by one, she tossed them down on the cement floor, Buffy arranging them neatly, pressing the velcro pieces together meticulously. With the last mat on the floor, Faith stretched her arms over her head, her joints popping, muscles stretching, aching to be pushed to the max.

They took their time stretching out on the mats together. The silence was deafening and Faith hopped up from stretching her legs and jogged over to the radio that sat high up on one of the shelves. She didn't even know if it worked anymore, but she grabbed it anyway and plugged it into the socket. She fiddled with the knobs on the old radio until she finally managed to tune it to a radio station. Music filled the air and she let out a sigh of relief.

"So, this whipping thing isn't going to involve actual whips, is it?" Buffy asked as Faith joined her back on the mats.

"Not into kink, B?"

Always too easy to fall into their playful banter. She'd missed it. Somewhere along the line they'd grown apart and she'd missed hanging around with Buffy more than she cared to admit.

"Not that kind of kink," Buffy winked. "You so know that I'd be the one holding the whip."

"Dominatrix huh?" Faith's eyes glazed over as those images involuntarily flooded her mind. "Of course you'd be one, B. Make the rest of us your willing slaves, whip us when we step outta line."

"All jokes aside, how are we going to do this?" Buffy asked in all seriousness, putting a sudden stop to the light-hearted side of things. She really was serious about getting back into shape and it wasn't as if Faith had some kind of plan written up. "Are we going to just go with the flow, start easy and small?"

"What's your idea of easy and small?"

Buffy shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest as an old, familiar look flashed over her face. It made Faith smile. She knew that look. She'd missed that look. Buffy wanted to spar.

Two years. It'd been two years since they sparred together. Kennedy had become her sparring partner since Buffy stopped, why she stopped Faith still wasn't sure and she didn't want to ask either. Two years since they'd faced each other in a friendly feat, always with Buffy ending up on top and leaving Faith defeated. Not this time though. Faith grinned as her confidence grew. Buffy was out of shape, hadn't sparred in two years and Faith was in the shape of her life. She was stronger and faster than she'd ever been and she even had a few moves she knew would completely catch Buffy off-guard.

She was so distracted by the thoughts of finally being able to best Buffy, to finally be the one who came out on top, that she barely had time to duck away from Buffy's flying fist. A hard right hook, her personal favorite when it came to Faith's face.

"Damn, B," Faith chuckled as she rubbed her jaw. "Lucky for you, you still hit like you used to."

"I might be out of shape, Faith, but I can still kick your ass."

"Love to see you try, girlfriend."

And just like that, they were right back into the swing of things, every hit, every kick, every misdirected move perfectly in sync with one another. Neither held back, although Faith did at first, not wanting to hurt her, but when she went flying across the mats, courtesy of a hard kick to the ribs, holding back was no longer an option.

Buffy still telegraphed some of her punches and Faith easily avoided those, shaking her head and laughing every time Buffy grunted in frustration. Deciding to pull a few moves on her she figured Buffy wouldn't be expecting, she tried the side kick, punch and sweep combo that landed Kennedy on her ass the other week. It wasn't exactly a stella move, but it had the desired effect and caught Buffy off-guard as she landed on her back hard.

Holding out a hand, an offer to help Buffy back to her feet even though she didn't need help, Faith grinned and in a flash, Buffy grabbed her wrist and flipped her over before she could even blink. Gasping as she stared up at the rafters, her heart was racing hard and fast in her chest.

"Damn," Faith chuckled as she leaned up on her elbows, feeling winded. "You done yet?"

"Oh, I've barely started, Faith," Buffy said sweetly as they both rose to their feet.

"That right?"

"Uh huh."

Sizing her up, which wasn't hard since she had a good inch or two over her, Faith got right into her personal space. "So, why don't you show me what you really got, B, or have you been holding back all this time?"

"You think I've been holding back?" Buffy stepped back, feigning shock as she placed a hand over her heart. "I feel like I should be offended or something."

Faith laughed as she took a step back. "So, prove it."

Daring words, words she quickly regretted as Buffy had her tumbling on her back down on the mats yet again. She wasn't going to be the only one and while Buffy stood there with an eyebrow raised, Faith winked and swept her legs around and pulled Buffy down with her.

"Seems like you're spending just as much time down here as I am," Faith chuckled as she glanced over at Buffy next to her. They were both breathing heavily and Buffy groaned as she ran her fingers through her hair, unmoving. "So, how come you stopped?"

"Stopped?"

"Training," Faith clarified. "Been like two years since you've come out here and hit the mats with me. Can't help but think there's a reason for that."

"One word, retirement," Buffy replied. "Or at least the lamest attempt at one ever."

"You had enough yet, B?"

"Just catching my breath."

"Oh, getting too old for this, ain't ya?" Faith laughed and she moved quickly, pinning Buffy down on the ground before she had a chance to move. She straddled her hips and held her arms against the mats just above her head. "See, thing is, if I was a vamp and you were just 'catching your breath' you'd be dinner."

"Lucky for me," Buffy said as she leaned close into Faith's ear. "I wouldn't give you a chance to get a bite before I put a stake through your heart."

"How'd you manage that? Seems like your hands are otherwise restrained."

Buffy grinned and managed to wrap her legs around Faith's waist and twisted Faith off of her with a little bit of a struggle. With one hand, she had Faith's pinned above her head and the other holding an imaginary stake just inches away from her chest. Laughing, Faith tried to get Buffy to get off of her, but Buffy didn't budge an inch.

"Come on, you proved your point."

"Did I?"

"B, come on, get up."

Faith wasn't sure what the hell was going on or what had gotten into Buffy, but her body was responding in a dangerous way she couldn't control. This was one reason why—long before Buffy stopped training daily—Faith never sparred with her alone. Always making sure that Kennedy, even Dawn or Xander were out there in the garage with them so things like this wouldn't happen.

It wasn't helping that it'd been a while since Faith had been with anyone. It wasn't helping that she was letting those feelings creep up on her as she stared intensely into Buffy's eyes that were locked with her own. It wasn't helping her heart was racing and it had nothing to do with sparring. It wasn't helping that Buffy just placed her hand on her stomach, just below her breasts and could feel her racing heart.

Faith felt as if she was being pulled in to Buffy. Her eyes were locked with Buffy's hazel eyes that looked more green than ever. Neither of them were moving or making an attempt to. Faith felt the grip Buffy had on her hands slack and she leaned up quickly, not thinking, just doing, and kissed her firmly on the lips. She felt Buffy freeze at the sudden kiss that came out of nowhere. Faith moved a hand to slide into Buffy's hair as she kissed her a little harder, hoping to hell she wasn't going to bolt. She let her pull back just a little and the small gasp that slipped past Buffy's lips made Faith shiver.

In a move that caught Faith a little bit off-guard, Buffy kissed her back only it wasn't as restrained as Faith's had been. It was all tongue, hard, fast, and deep. Faith sat up slowly, her hands moving to rest on Buffy's hips as she lost herself in the euphoric and passionate kiss. From the way Buffy moaned as Faith sucked on her lower lip, she knew Buffy was enjoying it just as much as she was. And she couldn't quite get enough of her either.

The sound of the back door slamming made Buffy nearly leap up from Faith and she was gone, nearly running out of the garage, leaving Faith sitting on the mats alone and wondering what the hell had just happened.

Faith groaned as she lightly ran her fingertips over her kiss swollen lips. She was on the verge of mixed emotions, a part of her sexually charged and wanting to run after Buffy, another part of her wondering if she'd just flushed their friendship down the drain because she couldn't hold herself back in the heat of the moment.

"Yo, tell me I didn't just see what I thought I saw," Kennedy said as she strolled into the garage.

"What?"

"Buffy," Kennedy said as she hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "When was the last time she came in here?"

"Beats me," Faith shrugged, trying not to act like she'd just had the best damn kiss of her entire life. "What are you doing out here, Ken?"

"Looking for you."

"Any reason why?" Faith asked as she got to her feet, her legs feeling unsteady. "Looking to spar or something? Cos I pretty much just got my fill for the day."

"What, with Buffy kicking your ass?"

Laughing, Faith walked over to the weight bench and sat down. "Not exactly," she winked and she shook her head, running a shaking hand through her hair. "Give me a minute and we'll go a few rounds."

Faith sat alone on the front porch, nursing a beer and smoking her first cigarette in four years. For most of the day, she'd kept to herself and she knew that Buffy was purposely avoiding her. She felt like she'd made a big mistake, kissing Buffy like that, pushing the limits of their friendship to the max. She'd let her feelings take over and she gave in like she was weak and not at all in control of herself. She'd let herself become everything she'd tried not to become in the last ten years, if not longer and now she was kicking herself for being so damn stupid.

"I thought you quit?"

Faith turned to look at Willow as she stood by the front door. Shrugging, she took a long drag and ignored the disappointed look on Willow's face as she sat down on the front step next to her. She sighed quietly as Willow just stared pointedly at her.

"I did quit. I just—"

"Needed one?"

"Yeah."

"Any reason why?"

"That's a loaded question."

"Is it?"

Faith nodded and turned away as Willow frowned. She knew she could talk to Willow about anything and everything, but she wasn't sure how to talk to her about Buffy or what had happened in the garage that morning between them. If she knew Buffy as well as she thought she did, she knew Buffy wouldn't want her talking about it with anyone else.

"Just feeling a little stressed lately," Faith said. "It's nothing really, Will."

"Are you sure?"

She wasn't sure and she knew Willow knew that too, but she also knew that Willow wouldn't force her to talk about what was on her mind either. It was one of the things she liked about Willow and their friendship, it was the underlying understanding they had with each other.

"This isn't going to become a regular thing, is it?" Willow asked.

"What? This?" Faith looked down at the cigarette between her fingers. "Nah. It's not like I went to the store and bought a pack or anything. Bummed one off Cliff."

"Who is Cliff?"

"Guy has lived beside us for years," Faith replied and she pointed over at the house on the left.

"Oh. Right. I thought his name was Clint?"

Faith shrugged. "Don't know really, all I ever call him is "dude" whenever I see him."

"And you see him a lot?"

"In passing."

"Oh," Willow laughed and she shook her head. "You know what I just realized?"

"What's that?"

"You haven't been dating."

"What do you mean?" Faith asked her and she took a long drag of her cigarette, doing all she could to avoid looking at Willow. "I date."

"Not lately."

"So?"

"So, that's unusual for you, Faith. I mean, a few weeks is nothing, but it's been six months," Willow replied and she frowned as Faith glanced over at her. "Yeah, I know for a fact that it's been six months. The last guy you went out with, what was his name? Logan?"

"Rogan," Faith corrected her. "Only guy who made it past the fourth date. Decent guy, just wasn't my type."

"And what is your type?" Willow asked. "Let me guess. Blonde and petite, about five foot three?"

Faith didn't say a word. She didn't have to. She took one last drag of her cigarette before dropping it into her nearly empty bottle of beer. Standing up, she walked around to the side of the house and headed around the back to the garage. She mentally counted down the seconds, starting at ten, before Willow caught up to her.

"Will, I'm not in the mood right now," Faith said with a shake of her head. She walked over to the empty beer case and placed the bottle inside. "Seriously, Willow."

"Running away doesn't make it go away."

"I walked," Faith snapped and she took a few deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

"I know that you and Buffy were out here training this morning. You've both been acting weird all day, so that kind of makes me think that something happened."

"I pulled a stupid move," Faith sighed and she walked over to the heavy bag and tapped it with her right fist. "I kissed her and now—"

"Finally!" Willow laughed. "I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this to happen."

"Huh?"

Willow grabbed her by her shoulders and stared right at her. "Ten years, Faith. I've been waiting for you two to figure it out for ten years."

"Yeah, well, the feelings aren't mutual. Believe me."

"Seriously?"

"Buffy isn't gay."

"Neither are you!"

"You know that I've been with women before. Kind of makes me a little gay," Faith laughed sharply and she backed away from Willow. "Besides, me and B? We're just friends."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"Hell no. She's been avoiding me since she bolted earlier. Can't say I blame her."

"Just like you're avoiding her," Willow said pointedly. Faith opened and closed her mouth, dumbfounded and unable to find the words to say. "Faith, if you don't talk to her about it, you know she's going to end up going out with yet another loser next week and who knows, maybe this time this guy might want to stick around and she'll fall in love with him, get married and where does that leave you? Full of regret? Can you just sit back and watch that happen and be happy for her?"

"Been doing it for years," Faith muttered under her breath. "All that matters is that she's happy."

"Faith—"

"Look, it's never gonna happen, Will. Like I said, we're just friends. I'm happy just being a part of her life, being her friend. Something I wanted back in Sunnydale, you know? If I tell her I want more, that I—" Faith cut herself off, not wanting to say it out loud. "I just don't want to lose what we have right now, you know, if I haven't already screwed it up by kissing her this morning."

Faith turned and tapped the heavy bag again, harder this time. She couldn't believe she ended up talking to Willow about Buffy, about kissing her. But it was Willow and if anyone could get her to talk about something she'd been avoiding, it was Willow Rosenberg.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" Willow asked. "Did she kiss you back?"

Unable to fight the grin that slipped over her lips, Faith nodded. "Yeah, she did. It was a hell of a kiss too."

Willow had this swoon-y look on her face and she couldn't seem to stop smiling as she stared at Faith. She playfully pushed Willow away from her, still unable to wipe that grin off her lips.

"You should talk to her," Willow said in all seriousness. "You can't avoid it forever."

"I know."

"So, go and talk to her then," Willow said as she gave Faith a little push towards the front of the garage. "It's her night to cook, she'll be in the kitchen probably right about now."

"With Dawn or Andrew."

"I'll take care of them."

"Will—"

Willow just gave her another push and she gave in, leading the way to the back door and inside the kitchen. Sure enough, Buffy was at the stove, casually stirring the sauce in the pot while she chatted to Dawn and Andrew. Faith made her way to the fridge and grabbed a beer while Willow worked her proverbial magic in getting Dawn and Andrew to leave the kitchen with her. All she said was she wanted to plan a weekend getaway at the beach and that was all it took for the two to jump up from where they'd been sitting at the kitchen table and follow her out.

Silence filled the kitchen as soon as they were gone and Faith gingerly twisted the cap off her beer and tossed it in the garbage can. She turned to look over at Buffy and noticed how tense she looked, even from behind. She gritted her teeth as she leaned against the counter by the fridge and let her eyes roam over Buffy's backside, noticing how tight her jeans were and how perfectly they hugged the slight curve of her ass.

"We need to talk," Faith said quietly and Buffy didn't even flinch, didn't even turn around. She was acting like Faith wasn't even there. "B?"

"What? I'm a little busy right now, Faith."

"We need to talk about what happened this morning."

"Do we?" She shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about."

"We kissed, B."

Buffy laughed dryly and she finally turned to look at her. "I'm aware of that."

Scoffing, Faith lifted the bottle to her lips and took a few sips, her eyes never leaving Buffy, not even when she turned her attention back to the food cooking on the stove. She should've seen that coming, Buffy pulling the bitch card like that. Faith wondered why she even listened to Willow in the first place. Now on top of Buffy avoiding her, she's gonna be talking to her in clipped tones for god knows how long.

"So, it meant nothing then?" Faith couldn't help but ask. "You just wanna write it off as what, a heat of the moment thing and forget it ever happened?"

"Could we?"

"Is this why you've been avoiding me all day? Cos you just wanna forget it even happened?"

"Faith, can we not get into it right now? I told you, I'm busy right now," Buffy said sharply, her shoulders tensing as she reached for a wooden spoon on the counter to her left.

"Whatever," Faith said, rolling her eyes as she turned and walked out of the kitchen. She downed the rest of her beer before she reached the front of the house and she placed the empty bottle on the table near the front door and grabbed her keys and her wallet.

"Faith?" Willow asked tentatively as Faith yanked open the door. "Where are you going? Dinner is going to be ready soon."

"I'm not hungry."

"What happened?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Faith—"

She slammed the door behind her and walked down the front steps. Fighting the tears and the bubbling anger inside of her, she headed down the front path to the street. She had to get out of the house, staying there wouldn't be good for her and she'd learned over the years when tensions rose in the house, the best thing she could do was get the hell out of there for a little while. She made it down to the corner and stopped, groaning softly as she spotted Xander's truck headed her way. He came to a stop on the sidewalk next to her and motioned for her to climb in, but she just shook her head no as she walked up to the truck.

"Where you headed, Faith?"

"Anywhere but there."

"Do you want a ride somewhere?" Xander asked with a friendly smile. "Hop in, I'll take you anywhere you want to go just as long as I'm home in time for dinner."

Faith didn't answer him as she clenched her jaw. Going down to the local neighborhood bar on a Tuesday wasn't a smart idea. She could just have a few beers too many back at the house, shut herself in her room and tune the rest of the world out just as easily.

"How about we just go for a ride?"

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Sometimes you just gotta get out of there, I know. Why do you think I work overtime as much as I can sometimes?" Xander said with a laugh as he turned the truck around and headed for the highway. "You want to talk?"

"No."

"Cool."

Xander nodded, understanding and accepting that she wasn't willing to talk about what was going on. He reached for the radio and cranked the music as loud as they both could stand. Once they hit the highway, Faith felt that bubbling anger start to disappear, the tears long forgotten.