(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

Faith sighed as she walked from the girls locker room to the gym, ready to face another two hours of torture, more popularly known as cheerleading practice. To be honest she didn't hate it as much as she pretended to, though sharing time and space with some of the bitches on the squad did get to her after a while. Buffy seemed cool though, for a cheerleader, and she and Faith actually spent a certain amount of time together outside of the pom-pom infested world too. The captain just would not cave when it came to changing the routine though, and that was one thing that bugged Faith a lot. They could all look so much more impressive, she could show them how too, given her background in gymnastics. She'd been winning competitions since she was a kid, she just knew she could help the squad win their apparently oh so important Regional competition, if only she was allowed to try. Faith hated not getting her own way, but it gave her some satisfaction to know that for every practice she turned up to, she was one step close to winning her bet with Spike.

Her dear step-brother acted all full of it, big with the bravado when he talked about Buffy and how she'd be his in no time at all, but the blonde barely mentioned Spike to Faith, and she'd seen no evidence that they were more than acquaintances. He had no chance to make any moves today either, since he wasn't even in school.

"Yo, B" the brunette frowned when she spotted her friend across the gym and went over to her, "You okay?"

"Oh, hey Faith" Buffy replied, forcing a smile, "I'm fine, I just... Is Spike okay?" she asked looking overly concerned, "I was wondering cos he didn't show in Bio and he's usually there when I arrive"

"Don't sweat it, B" Faith told her, "There ain't nothing wrong with Spike that a couple of painkillers, a gallon of water, and a cold shower won't fix" she grinned, until she realised Buffy seemed to have no idea what she was talking about, "He had a good night last night" she continued to explain, "Y'know drinking, dancing, hordes of adoring girls... or so he says" she rolled her eyes.

"Oh" was all Buffy could find to say in reply.

She wasn't into drinking herself, but the fact it seemed Spike had skipped school due to a hangover barely registered in her mind. The part of Faith's sentence that stuck out was the part about the adoring girls. Though Buffy had a boyfriend of her own, she hadn't actually seen Angel since he'd gone off to college, and Spike's attentions over the past week or so were flattering. It was disappointing to think he was equally attentive with other girls, that she might not be as special as she thought.

"Yo, Earth to B!" Faith smirked, shoving her friend lightly in the shoulder to get her attention, "Where'd your mind go?" she checked.

"Nowhere special" Buffy said with a shake of her head to clear her thoughts, "Just practice stuff, routines, y'know" she shrugged, smiling as she walked over to where the other girls and boys were getting warmed up ready for practice.

Faith frowned as she watched the blonde go and then moved to follow. Buffy seemed awful bothered about Spike suddenly, and the fact he was both hungover and had been out having a good time with some random girls last night. The brunette was soon rolling her eyes and telling herself not to be such an idiot. B was the good girl type and she had a college type boyfriend who she talked about most days. There was no way in hell she'd ever fall for a guy like her very own step-brother and his wild boy ways. Faith decided the bet she'd made was sure to go her way.

"Five, six, seven, eight, and one!" Buffy counted the end to the routine, snapping her fingers along with the rhythm as her team of cheerleaders performed the final moves and held their final pose.

"You guys that was perfect" she grinned, as Glory and Harmony hopped down off Larry and Ben's shoulders respectively. Xander and Willow were smiling too, so proud of their friend. She was a way better Captain than Cordelia had ever been, and her choice of having Faith join the team seemed to be working out well. The brunette was a hell of a gymnast, even if she was a little rough around the edges.

"Okay, everybody hit the showers, and I'll see you tonight at the game" Buffy called out to her team, "Go Razorbacks!" she added with more enthusiasm than she really felt, as the others groaned in response. They all loved to cheer and football games were fun for that, but the Sunnydale Razorbacks were reputedly the worst High School football team for miles around. It was a weird kind of irony that they had the best cheerleading team in the state.

"Good luck for tonight, Faith" Xander called as he and Willow exited the gym together, leaving just the brunette and Buffy behind.

"Thanks" the new girl smiled fakely. Like tonight was really a big deal. It was just a football game, another run through of a cheer she'd mastered almost the same day she'd been shown it. She was a hard core gymnast - this stuff was child's play.

"First game tonight" Buffy grinned as she tossed a bottle of water to her friend, "First real cheering event in front of others. You nervous?"

"Gotta say B, not so much" Faith shrugged, "I got the whole of the gang around me, cover me if I screw up, which I wouldn't anyway" she explained, sipping from the bottle of water in her hand before continuing, "Lot less terrifying than when I did gymnastic competitions all by myself at age seven"

"Wow" Buffy gasped, "There's no way I could ever be good enough to do that. Although, y'know, cheering isn't always as simple as people think"

"Oh, I ain't dissin' your sport" Faith defended herself, "I'm just sayin', I don't see it is as the big deal you do" she shrugged as she picked her sweater up from the bench and she and Buffy headed for the girls locker room.

"I guess cheering has just always been a big part of my life" Buffy sighed, "It was my escape from a lot of things, like my parents divorce and everything. Takes my mind off stuff"

Faith looked at the blonde in a new light right then. Though she'd learnt various bits of information about the cheerleader over the past couple of weeks, she still believed the girl had a pretty perfect princess life, something Faith resented Buffy just a little bit for. Her Dad had split when she was just a kid and she'd had a large number of so-called Uncles before her mother had married Spike's father. It seemed Buffy's family had been through it's own traumas and that the blonde used cheerleading for an escape, much as Faith used her gymnastics and various men.

"You okay?" Buffy's worried tone pulled the brunette from her deep thoughts and she smiled.

"Five by five, B" she assured her as they both got changed into their regular clothes. Faith was just putting her bag on her shoulder and about to offer Buffy a ride home in her car when she heard the blonde sigh heavily.

"Somethin' wrong?" Faith asked as Buffy frowned at the screen of her cell-phone.

"Kind of" she said absently, before actually looking at her friend and forcing a smile, "I mean, no" she said quickly, "I just, I kind of thought Angel would've called or messaged me or something..."

"You haven't heard from him in a while?" Faith guessed as the two girls headed out of the locker room now fully dressed and with their bags on their shoulders.

"Not so much" Buffy shook her head, "But then, he's just started college, it's a busy time" she covered for her boyfriend, "I get that he doesn't have a lot of spare time right now. I know he hasn't forgotten about me or anything"

"I'm sure he hasn't" Faith smiled fakely. Seemed to her that if you were as in love as Buffy and Angel were supposed to be you'd keep in touch with each other no matter what. A little thing like college shouldn't get in the way as far as she could see, but then she'd never been in love enough to know for sure how these things worked.

For now she'd keep her mouth shut, though the thought did occur that of Buffy was having some problems with her boyfriend she might fall all to easily into the waiting arms of Spike. Faith hated to lose a bet and as crazy as it sounded she almost felt bad that Buffy might end up hurt in all this... but not bad enough to actually say anything to her about it, or call off the deal with the step-brother.

Spike was half asleep on the couch when Faith came in from school. With both their parents working all day and paying little or no attention to their kids it had been easy enough for him to take the day off for his hangover.

"Yo Spike!" Faith yelled directly into his ear, waking him up with a start. She bust up laughing at his reaction as she pushed his feet aside and sat down on the couch beside him, glancing at the lame TV show he'd been falling asleep in front of.

"Bitch!" Spike cursed, trying to sit up, "You ought to know better than to wake a fella up like that. Might've given me a bloody heart attack" he complained as he reached to the coffee table and got out a cigarette.

"I ain't ever gonna kill you" Faith told him with a shake of her head, "but those might, lamebrain" she told him, gesturing to the pack of fags on the table. Spike rolled his eyes and lit up anyway.

"So, you have fun waving your pom-poms luv?" he smirked as they both looked at the TV without really watching it.

"Oh yeah" Faith replied, faking a yawn to show how boring it had really been.

Truth was it hadn't been so bad but she didn't want him to know she was kind of enjoying something that was so incredibly lame to him.

"Buffy mention me at all, did she?" he asked next and Faith considered whether Spike deserved to know the truth or not. He'd only crow about it if she said Buffy had asked about his welfare, but she also had the opportunity to rub his face in the fact the blonde had been bummed over her boyfriends lack of interested more than Spike's absence.

"Just asked why you didn't show today" Faith shrugged, "And sympathy for your condition kinda went out the window when I mentioned the booze, cigarettes, and a certain Drusilla, who kept you 'up' all night" she smirked.

"You bloody didn't!" Spike exploded, knowing his chances were likely to be ruined at getting Buffy to like him if she thought he was as wild as all that, and that he slept around or something.

"No, I didn't" his step-sister admitted with a chuckle at his expression, "I mentioned you had a good night, got a little drunk, and that maybe some girls were hangin' around. She doesn't know why you didn't sleep last night" she rolled her eyes, wondering why she'd bothered to even defend him as she picked up her bag and headed off to her room, "Still, you're not gonna make progress with her if you're at home here sittin' on your ass everyday" she pointed out as she turned back from the door to glance at him, "And y'know I'm, like, the most devoted cheerleader ever" she said, faking a Valley girl voice that made Spike smirk.

"I'll get plenty of chances to get the girl, Faithie" he told her with a look, "Stayin' here tonight, right?" he checked.

"Yes" Faith sighed, "She's comin' here after the game. Given that her folks and ours are out it made sense, but you do not even talk to her, got it?" she said pointing a finger at him sternly, "She ain't so bad y'know, I don't want you messin' with her too much"

"Bloody hell, luv, you going soft on me?" Spike almost laughed at that surprising revelation, "Either way, pet, we had a bet, and there's no going back on that" he swore to her, "Buffy Summers will love me, I'll see to that"

To Be Continued...