A.N. Okay, here's a special treat for everyone who's been reviewing. It's nearly 5 a.m. and I just got home and had some reviews waiting for me and they were so sweet I decided to post the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
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"So you guys have been hanging out with the slayers a lot," Lucas noted. He, Haley, Nate, Peyton and Brooke were seated around a table at lunch.
Peyton shrugged. "Just trying to help them take care of things"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Lucas told them with a frown. "I don't want anything to happen to you two."
"It's not like they let us come out on patrol, Luke," Brooke told him.
"So how has it been going?" Nathan asked. "Are they close to getting rid of the vampires?"
Peyton looked around to be sure nobody heard them. "Nate, quiet."
He looked around and gave them a sheepish look. "Sorry."
"Buffy thinks once they find the nest they'll be able to wipe them out," Brooke told them leaning forward a bit and dropping her voice.
"Dude, she's so hot," Nate blurted out only to get slapped in the chest from his wife.
Lucas shot him a smile from across the table and a look to let him know he totally agreed with him. "Is she single?"
Brooke and Peyton exchanged a look. "I think she is," Brooke told him. "Not sure you're really her type." Both girls picking up on Buffy's crush on her slaying partner and knowing Lucas didn't stand a chance.
He furrowed his brow. "Why is that?"
She shrugged. "Just a gut feeling. I think she's more for tall, dark and mysterious types." She exchanged a look with Peyton and they shared a private smile.
"So more like Nate then?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Brooke pursed her lips. "Ya know, I feel so much safer with them around."
Everyone ignored the blatant subject change and Peyton shook her head. "Well, not that I ever believed we needed them but I do too."
"I'm telling you, Peyton, they're real," Nathan told her with a frown.
Lucas peeled back his bandage. "Does this look fake to you?"
"No," Peyton told him with a roll of her eyes. "How can this possibly be happening though?"
"It does seem really surreal," Haley agreed. "But I've seen it with my own eyes."
"I know," Peyton mumbled. "It's not that I don't believe it, I just don't want to."
"Well, hopefully Buffy and Faith will have everything taken care of in the next few days so we can go back to normal," Lucas told them.
Brooke and Peyton shared a look and frowned. "That would mean that they would have to leave though."
"Aw, is someone getting attached?" Luke asked with a grin.
The two girls rolled their eyes. "I just feel like they're my older sisters or something and I don't want them to go," Brooke told them with a frown.
"Me too," Peyton agreed.
"It's not like you'll never see them again though," Haley reasoned. "I'm sure you guys can visit them."
Brooke sighed. "Yeah, guess you're right."
The bell rang suddenly and the teens moved to head to their next classes. Peyton slung an arm around Brooke's shoulders and pulled her close. "They don't get it."
Brooke shook her head and leaned it on Peyton's shoulder as she slid an arm around her friend's slender waist. "Like usual, you're the only person that understands things like me, P. Sawyer."
Peyton smiled. "Nothing new there."
The two girls headed for their next class, both counting down the time until they'd get to hang out with the slayers.
P
Peyton opened her front door and found Faith standing on the other side. "Sawyer, what's up?"
Peyton grinned. "Hey, Faith. You ready to go?"
Faith nodded with a smile. "Where are we headed?"
"I figured we could grab dinner and then maybe just go to Tric and hang out," Peyton told her, suddenly worried that her itinerary suddenly sounded like a date.
"Cool," Faith told her with a smile.
The two girls jumped in Peyton's car and made their way downtown towards the restaurant where Peyton made reservations. The music was blasting and the top was down, both girls enjoying it. The pulled up to a stop light and a vampire suddenly jumped out as they stopped and Faith had to move fast and lean over the other girl to stake it before it got its fangs on her.
Peyton sat completely still with a hand over her heart. "Wow, okay now I believe."
Faith sighed and looked at her. "Did it get you at all?"
"It's just a scratch," Peyton told her with a shake of her head.
Faith finally caught up. "What the hell do you mean, now you believe?"
"Faith, really, now?" Peyton asked with a look around for more vamps.
"Hell yeah," she replied indignantly.
Peyton tried to come up with words to describe how she felt about the entire situation but nothing came out. "I don't know."
Faith grew angrier. "What the hell do you think me and B have been doin' since we got here?"
Peyton shook her head. "Faith, I didn't really mean it."
"I think you did."
"I'm sorry, okay? It's just hard to believe."
"Whatever."
Peyton sighed and continued driving them to the restaurant. Once they were settled at their table inside Peyton couldn't handle the silence anymore. "Faith, I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't believe it, I guess I just didn't want to."
Faith nodded, her anger dissipating. "I know. It's cool."
With that, the conversation fell to lighter subjects and both girls laughed through dinner. Faith spent quite a bit of time telling stories about the baby slayers and life at the Council before she and Buffy went on the road and one story got her a little excited and she managed to knock her soda over and it drenched Peyton. Faith apologized profusely and offered to buy her a new wardrobe but Peyton declined, noting that she would have to go home and change before Tric.
P
"Hey, PS, where ya been?" Brooke asked from Peyton's bed.
Peyton jumped, not seeing Brooke in the room. "Brooke, you scared me. What are you doing here?"
Brooke raised an eyebrow. "Since when do I need an excuse to come see my bestest friend?"
Peyton raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Only when you call me your bestest friend."
Brooke smiled sweetly. "But you are my bestest friend."
Peyton sat next to her on the bed. "Brooke, what's going on?"
The brunette shrugged. "Were you out with Faith?"
Peyton smiled a little and looked down at her hands. "Yeah, actually she's in the car waiting for me."
Brooke felt her stomach drop and she frowned. "Oh."
Peyton grasped Brooke's hands in both of hers. "Hey, what's going on?"
Brooke shrugged. "I dunno. You seem to like the slayers."
She shrugged a shoulder. "They're really cool and the whole slayer thing is kinda fascinating."
Brooke clenched her jaw. "Oh, so just because they're slayers they're 'fascinating'? Is she gonna be your new best friend too?"
Peyton raised an eyebrow. "Brooke, why are you getting all weird about this?"
"What's with all the drawings of her? Do you like her?" Brooke asked point blank, pointing to the drawings on Peyton's bed of Faith.
Peyton took a step back and stared at her friend for a long stretch of moments. "And what if I do?"
Brooke shook her head, anger and hurt flashing in her eyes. "You don't even know her."
"I know her well enough to know that she's a lot of things that no one else sees," Peyton told her quietly.
Brooke stood up in a huff and grabbed her bag. "Well, I'll go so you can see as much of her as you want." She turned to leave, but turned before she got to the door. "How can you do this to Buffy? You know the two of them have something going on between them. Or are they just anther couple you want to break up?" She stormed out the door leaving a stunned, and hurt, Peyton in her wake.
"What the hell?" She thought about Brooke as she changed clothes and tried to figure out what had just happened between them. She couldn't figure out why only now she was being weird about the slayers. The two of them had been hanging out with the slayers all week.
She realized she had been sitting there longer than she thought when a knock on her door shook her from her thoughts. Faith stood in the doorway looking uncomfortable. "I saw Davis storm outta here. What happened?"
Peyton sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. She got pissed off about something and stormed out."
Faith looked concerned. "Is it because you and me are hangin' out?"
"No, Faith, it's not that," Peyton told her. She stood up and shook it off. "You ready to go?"
Faith nodded. "Yeah, we gotta swing by the hotel first, I left my ID."
Peyton nodded and grabbed her jacket and followed the slayer out the door and to the car.
P
Buffy entered the club after a fairly boring solo patrol and looked around. Being in Tree Hill was like being in a very strange alternate dimension version of Sunnydale. It was a small town with one club for all ages and everyone was there because there was nowhere else to really be. The only real difference was no Hellmouth-y energy making everyone crazy.
She took a look around and noticed a familiar brunette at the bar and she made her way over and took a seat next to her.
"You look like you're having a good night," Buffy noted as she took a good look at the girl.
Brooke looked up with hooded eyes, obviously drunk. "Yeah, well I'd be having a much better night if your girlfriend wasn't hitting on my best friend."
Buffy raised an eyebrow and tried desperately to ignore the stabbing pain in her heart at the mention of Faith. "She's not-"
"I know, not your girlfriend," Brooke mumbled as she took another sip of her drink. She glanced at the slayer. "Can I buy you a drink? Don't mind me…I got started a while ago." She figured she might as well. Karen was gone and the bartender had a mad crush on her. She was definitely using that to her advantage.
Buffy studied the other girl for a second until something caught her eye. Peyton made her way through the door and was followed closely by Faith. Both girls were laughing and smiling and looking like they were really enjoying each other's company. "Ya know, a drink would be good." She ordered something with a lot of vodka and took the empty seat next to the other girl.
Brooke glanced back over her shoulder and spied what the other girl had seen and she ordered two more shots.
"Does she know?" Buffy asked softly once she downed a few shots.
Brooke placed two more shots in front of her. "Does who know what?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and clinked her shot glass against the other girl's. "Does Peyton know you're in love with her?"
Brooke nearly spit out her shot and she grasped a napkin to wipe her mouth. "What?"
Buffy shrugged. "My best friend is gay remember, it's no big deal."
Brooke shook her head. "I know it's no big deal. I'm not gay."
"You're just in love with your best friend," Buffy stated simply, almost daring the other girl to challenge her.
Brooke opened her mouth to protest but realized she couldn't and she stuck out her bottom lip in a huge pout. "I can't help it." She shifted her eyes to watch Peyton smile at something Faith said to her. "We've been friends for years. Part of me thinks this is really just the next natural progression of our relationship but I can't screw it up with her. She's too important to me."
Buffy took a sip of her drink, the alcohol kicking in hard. "How do you know you'll screw it up with her?"
Brooke laughed humorlessly and shook her head. "Because I've managed to screw up every good relationship I've ever had. Sometimes I just feel like I'm destined to be alone and there's nothing on Earth that scares me more." She glanced over at Peyton again only to find that she was dancing with Faith now. "Other than losing her."
Buffy's face shifted to concern. "Well maybe it says something that the only relationship you've ever really been able to make work is the one with her."
Brooke glanced up at her, hope flickering in her eyes. "You really think so?"
Buffy chewed on her lip and stared over Brooke's shoulder at Faith and Peyton dancing together. "I will tell you that wanting someone that you can't have is heartbreaking. There's nothing worse than loving someone that can't love you back and having them right there next to you every day all day to remind you that you'll never have them."
Brooke took a long look at the slayer and followed her line of sight. Her eyes landed on the brunette slayer and her best friend. Something suddenly clicked. "So how long have you been in love with Faith?"
Buffy's head snapped around quickly. She could have denied it. She probably should have denied it. After all, that's what had been working for her all along. "Six years."
Brooke shared a pained, understanding smile with the slayer until her smile shifted to devious after a moment. Something came to her.
Buffy saw the shift in the other girl and even though she didn't know Brooke very well she knew enough to know that she should worry. "I'm suddenly very afraid. What are you thinking?"
Brooke grinned slyly and raised an eyebrow. "I think we should each take a few more shots and see if we can make those two as jealous as we are right now."
Buffy shook her head. "What happens if it doesn't make them jealous?"
Brooke looked the other girl up and down. "Well if it doesn't work you're still pretty hot and dancing is always fun." She grasped Buffy's hand and tugged her from her seat. "Come on, Summers, let's at least have some fun."
Buffy followed her to the dance floor and the two of them started dancing, trying to catch the attention of the two girls they had just been watching, hoping to make them just as jealous.
P
Faith and Peyton approached the other two girls at the bar. Faith leaned her hip against the bar next to Buffy placing a hand on the bar and one on the back of Buffy's chair, effectively trapping Buffy in her chair. "Hey, B."
Buffy looked up at her with puppy dog eyes and a pout. "Faith," she whined, "it's hot in here."
Faith smiled a little, totally amused at drunk Buffy but trying not to show it. "B, you drunk?"
Buffy nodded and looked up at her with hooded eyes and a lazy smile. "Can we dance?"
Faith raised an eyebrow and glanced at Peyton who smiled and nodded, shooing her on with her hands.
"Yeah, of course, B," she replied taking Buffy's hand and pulling her to her feet.
Buffy glanced back and stopped suddenly, pulling her hand from Faith's and moved forward to pull Brooke into a hug. "Tell her." She pulled back and looked the teen in the eye and nodded.
Brooke smiled and nodded. Buffy turned back to Faith and grasped her hand again and allowed the dark slayer to lead her to the dance floor.
Peyton moved to stand next to Brooke's seat and wrapped an arm around the back of her chair, her fingers grazing Brooke's arm lightly. The two of them watched the slayers wrap themselves around each other as they danced.
"Is Buffy as crazy about Faith as she is about her?" Peyton asked quietly, her mouth close to Brooke's ear.
Brooke felt her stomach drop with the combination of the alcohol and having Peyton so close to her. Warm breath tickled her neck and she resisted the urge to shiver. She could smell her perfume and her shampoo lingering in the space around her and it was intoxicating. She nodded slowly and looked up at her best friend. "She's totally in love."
Peyton nodded slowly, her face inches from Brooke's. She swallowed hard as their gazes locked. "Wanna get out of here?"
Brooke nodded and smiled. "Your place or mine?"
"You pick," she replied with a soft smile.
Brooke grinned. "Yours." She looped her arm through Peyton's as the two of them walked home. The slayers had been so wrapped up in each other that they hadn't even noticed when they left.
"Did you have fun with Faith?" Brooke asked.
Peyton shrugged. "I'm glad I came with her, but I'm really glad I'm leaving with you."
"I'm really sorry about earlier by the way," Brooke mumbled.
"Me too," Peyton replied. "For the record, the drawings were for Buffy. She saw me drawing the other day and asked me to sketch Faith."
"Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"You kinda ran out before I could," Peyton explained with a smile. "And I don't like her…not like that anyways."
Brooke looked up at her hopefully. "You don't?"
Peyton smiled and shook her head. Brooke smiled and rested her head on Peyton's shoulder as they walked.
"Aw, aren't they cute," a voice called out from behind.
Both girls turned and found a group of vampires behind them.
"You sure these are the two hangin' with the slayers?" one asked another.
"It's them," he replied with a feral grin.
The teens began to back up and were about to turn to run when they realized they were trapped by another group of vamps behind them. One vampire grabbed Peyton from behind and began dragging her off and as soon as Brooke made a lunge for her, another vamp swung a broken board at her and effectively knocked her out. Peyton screamed for Brooke until another vamp punched her and knocked her out as well.
P
A.N. uh-oh…what will become of our two favorite teens from Tree Hill? I'll make ya a deal, you review and I tell you! It works out well for everyone, right? I do hope you enjoyed this one.