Buffy found herself sitting at the bar alone, sipping her much overpriced rum and Diet Coke, one that was on the house since she was celebrating her birthday. The whole night, the atmosphere of it all reminded her of that night. Her friends were sitting on the couches and Faith was around somewhere with Josh. She took a sip of her drink and turned to look at the crowd, her eyes falling upon Faith and Josh as they danced in the middle of a sea of drunken club goers.

Her hands were still tender from the cuts from that morning, but it didn't stop her from clenching her fists tightly as she watched the two of them dance. His hands moved freely over her body and Faith had her eyes closed, lost in the driving music from the band that played on stage.

"Hey, can I get another? Maybe a little stronger this time?" Buffy nearly shouted at the bartender as he walked past her. He just smiled and took her empty glass and quickly replaced it with a fresh drink. "Thanks."

She turned back to the crowd, watching Faith and Josh, mesmerized and unable to look away. She closed her eyes as she felt Satsu slip a warm, delicate yet strong hand in her own.

"Let's go dance," Satsu said quietly into her ear before pulling Buffy off the barstool and dragged her out onto the dance floor. "Come on, baby, let loose a little."

Buffy fell into the beat of the music, letting her inner inhibitions loose. She didn't even really notice at first that she was slowly but surely making her way to where Faith and Josh were, not until she spun around and found herself face to face with Faith. She smiled at Faith, watching as she licked her lower lip before spinning around to face Satsu.

"Let's dance, baby," Buffy breathed into her ear as she pulled her in close.

Losing herself completely, as she usually did when alcohol and dancing was involved, she pulled Satsu even closer to her. She just needed to feel something other than her driving emotions that had her standing on the edge, ready to plunge forwards or backwards, given whatever was thrown her way next. She could feel Faith's eyes on her and she manoeuvred her and Satsu so she could face her, watching Faith watching her.

The alcohol pounding through her body made the room around her spin wildly out of control, the only thing keeping her anchored was Faith's eyes locked intensely with her own. She could see Faith's eyes flicker with jealousy of her own as Satsu ran her hands over her back, causing her to moan and shiver and pull her in closer, their bodies so close it was almost hard to breathe. She broke away from Faith's gaze and looked at Satsu, smiling at the inebriated look of desire she received in return.

The driving beat slowed as the band began playing a mid-tempo song. It gave Buffy a chance to calm her racing heart and she relaxed in Satsu's arms, her eyes drifting back to look at Faith. She raised an eyebrow at the angered look in Faith's eyes.

'How the tables have turned,' she thought, smirking as she ran her hands down the length of Satsu's back and forced herself to tear her eyes away from Faith yet again.

In an instant she found herself being pulled from Satsu and Faith's arms were around her. Satsu stumbled back, stuttering in protest and Faith only waved her off.

"She owes me a dance," she said to her as she smiled so sweetly it almost looked painful. "One dance, Sushi. Surely I can have one dance with the birthday girl?"

"The name is Satsu."

"Yeah, whatever," Faith muttered as she pulled Buffy to the darkened corner of the dance floor.

"Faith, what are you..."

"You owe me a dance, Blondie."

"I know, but..."

Faith leaned in as she held her close, her lips brushing against her ear as she spoke. "But nothing, B. Just go with it."

Buffy shivered as Faith trailed her fingers down her spine before resting her hands on her lower back. Her touch was electrifying, the heat coming from her was molten and Buffy closed her eyes, losing herself in the music and within the feel of Faith's arms around her and her body pressed up so close to her own. She had to fight within herself the urge to kiss her. Now was not the time nor was it the place to let go and just do what felt right, to do what felt completely natural.

Buffy closed her eyes as she ran her fingertips over the nape of Faith's neck, revelling in the softness of her skin and the firmness of the muscle as it rippled under her touch. They were barely moving, dancing to the music that seemed to only play within the confines of their own hearts. She gasped out as Faith pulled her hips into her own, the intimacy of their position sending a wave of burning pleasure through her body.

"I want to...kiss you," Buffy breathed out as she felt Faith back her up to the nearest pillar.

"What's stopping you, B?"

"We'll be seen," she said softly, biting her own lip as she allowed her eyes to meet and lock with Faith's. "We can't."

"I hate this, B."

"Hate what?"

"Seeing you with her, seeing her hands all over you, seeing that...that look in her eyes that only says one thing, that she wants you."

Faith's fingers gripped her hips harder, so hard she knew there'd be light bruises there in the morning. The almost possessive, jealous growl that escaped Faith's lips before she kissed her sent her almost over the edge, plunging so far deep she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to pull herself out of the deep hole she'd dug herself into. They were in so deep and yet they were going nowhere. Buffy reluctantly pushed her away, breathing heavily as the stars from behind her eyes slowly disappeared.

They had barely broken from their sudden intense kiss before they were ripped apart by a furious Satsu. Buffy could see the punch coming long before it actually came and unfortunately for Faith she didn't until Satsu's fist connected with her jaw. The few people around them stopped to stare at the commotion, but when they saw the feral look in Satsu's eyes, they turned and minded their own business.

"Satsu, what the hell?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, Buffy! What were you kissing her for? Huh?"

"It just..."

"Can't give her a birthday kiss?" Faith groaned as she rubbed her jaw. "Jesus, Sushi, take a fucking chill pill."

"Happened," Buffy finished, her words falling upon deaf ears and becoming lost in the music and the voices of the crowd around them.

It was a matter of seconds before Josh was there looking slightly dazed and confused as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Buffy felt like she'd stepped back into middle school in the middle of a schoolyard brawl, fight to the 'death' and trying to win the affections of the one that was stuck in the middle. Buffy had to hold Satsu back from lunging after Faith for calling her 'Sushi'. She also had to bite back the chuckle that threatened to escape as well.

How they all ended up this way, Buffy had no idea. She watched as Josh pulled Faith away, demanding to know what was going on as they disappeared in the crowd on the dance floor. Satsu twisted her way out of Buffy's ironclad grip and turned to face her.

"I can't believe you, Buffy."

"What?"

"The second you get a chance to wander off alone your lips are attached to her face."

"It just happened. It wasn't like I planned it!" Buffy protested as she stood there in front of Satsu, trying to keep her cool as best as she could. "We were just dancing, Satsu."

"That was a hell of a lot more than just dancing," she pointed out as she clenched her fists at her side. "I thought things had changed, gone back to the way they were before she started moving in on you. I was wrong, yet again."

"What do you want me to say then?"

"Apologize."

"No," Buffy replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I have nothing to apologize for. All I feel like I've been doing the last couple of weeks has been apologizing to you. I'm tired of saying I'm sorry. I'm tired of feeling like you don't believe me every time I say it too."

Satsu shook her head and looked as if she was about to say something back and instead she turned and walked away from her. Buffy gritted her teeth, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself down. The alcohol was making it impossible for her to keep a clear head and she walked over to her friends sitting on the couches and sat down next to Xander.

"What happened over there?" Xander asked as he handed Buffy a bottle of water.

"Drama."

"Were you just kissing Faith?" He asked quietly enough so only she heard him.

"I..."

Buffy couldn't find it in herself to explain what had happened. It was bad enough Satsu had intervened, but for Xander and most likely everyone else to have seen what happened made for a rather tense and awkward situation. It intensified when Faith came over and took a seat on the couch across from Buffy. All eyes were on them and although no words were spoken between any of them, the questions they wanted to know hung heavily in the air.

"Anyone feel like heading to Tony's and getting some pizza?" Xander asked as everyone looked at him, giving Buffy and Faith a moment to just look at one another without anyone else watching.

All she wanted was to walk over and sit next to Faith and finish their kiss from before. From the look on Faith's face, Buffy had no doubt she wanted that to happen as well. She groaned quietly as Xander nudged her with his shoulder.

"What?"

"We're going to get some pizza before Tony's closes, you in?"

"Of course," she said with a forced smile even though she knew that getting out of the club and getting some solid food in her stomach was probably the wisest thing to do. "Faith, are you coming with us?"

"Could eat," she shrugged as she stood up from the couch and walked over to Buffy. "Can we talk, B?"

"Privately?" Buffy asked and Faith only nodded her head. "Can it wait?"

"Sure," she shrugged again, looking mildly uncomfortable as everyone turned to look at them. "What?"

"Are you going to go find Josh and see if he's going to come with us?" Willow asked.

"No, he took off. Called it an early night."

"Buffy," Willow said as she turned to her and handed her jacket to her. "Where did Satsu go off to?"

"I don't know."

"We all saw...what happened," Willow whispered as she looked at Faith then back at Buffy quickly. "What was going on between you and Faith?"

"Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing to me."

"Can we not talk about this right now, Will?"

"But we are going to talk about it later," she said firmly as she reached out for Kennedy and pulled her up from the couch.

They all left the club and Buffy fell to the back of the group and found herself walking next to Faith. She wanted to ask Faith why she wanted to talk to her privately, but she already had an idea what that 'talk' was going to be. Lips would be involved and she wasn't so sure actual words would be though.

They did need to talk. They had to figure out what was going on between them and avoiding one another obviously hadn't worked before. It just left a lot hanging in the air and a hell of a lot of unresolved sexual tension that was threatening to break through the surface at any given moment. They fell far back enough from their friends that they could talk without being overheard. Faith obviously had other ideas when she pulled Buffy into the alley and pressed her up against the wall, her lips instantly on hers before she had a chance to protest.

Her words and all her thoughts were lost in the feel of Faith's lips on her own, Faith's tongue that was demanding access and she was lost to Faith's hands as they gripped her hips tightly. She let out a low moan as Faith moved a hand to roughly cup her through her jeans and she broke away from the kiss, panting heavily, her body screaming at her to just give in and beg for Faith to take her right there in the alley. But she couldn't. The last of her rational, clear thoughts were fluttering through, forcing her to stop what was happening before it went one step too far.

"We can't," she said shakily as she grabbed Faith's arms and pushed her away. "We just can't, Faith. We're...we're with other people and what we're doing is..."

"Wrong, I know," Faith sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair and lowered her eyes. "How can something so wrong feel so right, B?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that we're going to have to talk about this when we're slightly less drunk."

"I know."

"We should...catch up with everyone before they notice we're gone."

Faith moved in close to her, backing her up against the wall once again. She leaned in to kiss her and stopped herself as their lips barely touched. "Fuck, B. This is driving me crazy."

"I know. It's driving me crazy too."

"What are we gonna do about this?"

"I have no idea."

"All I know is the last couple of weeks all I can think about is you, B. Josh is starting to suspect something is going on and I still don't know how to tell him about...this," she said as she motioned at the small space between them. "I don't want to hurt him and I don't want you to hurt Satsu either. If this is for real, B, I think we should do what's right."

"Which is?"

"End things."

"Between us?"

"No," Faith said as she shook her head. "I mean I end things with Josh and you end it with Satsu and we...we do whatever feels right and let this happen between us."

Buffy almost pinched herself right then and there to make sure she wasn't dreaming the whole thing. Was Faith serious? Did she actually want to end her only stable relationship to be with her? Were they really going to put their friendship on the line just to see what there was between them? Buffy already knew their friendship was on the line, it had been since New Year's Eve and that kiss they had a midnight. It had been on the line far before that too. At least it had been on Buffy's part.

Their small chat was cut short by Kennedy who had come looking for them. She looked at both of them, smirking a little as they jumped away from each other as quickly as they could manage.

"Vampire," Faith muttered a lame excuse.

"Right," Kennedy laughed as she rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone what I just saw."

"You didn't see anything," Faith nearly growled as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"Saw what?" Kennedy winked as she looked at Buffy. "You might want to do something about the lipstick before we catch up to everyone else. That is so not your colour."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, snapping out of her daze.

"Come here, B," Faith said as she pulled her close and wiped the smudged lipstick from around her lips. "Much better."

Buffy couldn't help but blush a little as Kennedy chuckled and waited for them to follow her. Nobody else seemed to notice how nervous they both looked as they caught up with them. Faith kept her distance, choosing to walk next to Dawn and Xander. Buffy licked her lips slowly, tasting Faith, her lipstick and the beer she'd been drinking at the club. She felt weak in the knees when she licked her lips yet again. Nobody ever had that kind of power over her, ever.

The restaurant wasn't busy since it was after eleven and they all sat in the booths near the back. Kennedy somehow managed to manoeuvre Faith so she ended up sitting next to Buffy. She blushed, knowing she would have a permanent blush throughout the entire meal with Faith so close to her. It was awkward and extremely tense sitting there squished in the booth next to Faith with Kennedy on her left. Her right thigh was pressed firmly against Faith's. The heat radiating off of her was intense and she needed to move, yet she couldn't.

"Want to split one of those huge everything pizzas with me, B?" Faith asked as she dropped her hand on her thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Sure," Buffy squeaked out and took a deep, shuddering breath when Faith didn't move her hand.

The only one that could see where Faith's hand was currently was Kennedy. It was slightly awkward knowing Faith's hand, which was creeping up her inner thigh, was in plain view of Kennedy's wandering eyes. The soft and gentle way Faith's fingers stroked her inner thigh, tracing along the seam of her jeans, was fast making her libido race through the roof. It took a lot of courage for her to reach for Faith's hand and take it away. If she didn't, she wasn't sure what would end up happening and she was in no way prepared for anything to happen around their friends.

"You okay, Buffy?" Dawn asked as the waiter passed out the frosted glasses and began pouring everyone a glass of beer. "You look a little flushed."

"It's ah...warm in here and plus I think I had one too many drinks at the club."

"You aren't going to hurl, are you?"

"No, Dawnie. I'm fine."

Dawn gave her a once-over before deciding she was telling the truth. Faith dropped her hand onto her own leg and every once in a while the back of her hand brushed against Buffy's thigh, sending electrifying shivers through her entire body. She took in a couple deep, shaky breaths, trying to steady her breathing as she tried to look interested in the ongoing conversation. When she felt it was safe for her to look at Faith without being noticed, she mouthed 'stop' and proceeded to move Faith's hand away yet again.

"What's the matter, B?" Faith whispered as she leaned in close to her. "Can't handle it?"

"No."

Faith chuckled and moved her hand away and placed it on the table. Buffy shook her head, not getting why Faith was being so touchy feely with her. It was driving her absolutely insane and it made just sitting there much more than tense. They were going to talk later; Buffy would make sure of it. There had to be some kind of boundaries set between them until they were both free to pursue things between them. She wasn't a cheater even though she'd been caught twice making out with Faith. She knew Faith wasn't a cheater either, but everything had changed since that kiss on New Year's Eve and nothing would ever go back to the way it had been before.

"Where's Satsu?" Xander asked, looking over at Buffy, an eyebrow rising slightly when Buffy flinched.

"Uh she...left us at the club."

"After..."

"Yeah," Buffy nodded, really not wanting to discuss it with everyone else sitting right there. "I'm sure she just needed some time to cool off."

Xander nodded, leaving it at that to much of Buffy's relief. She drowned out the multiple conversations now taking place around the table and found herself glancing at Faith out of the corner of her eye. Her heart was racing wildly out of control whenever she caught Faith subtly looking back at her. If this went on until they went home, she knew she'd need a very long, very cold shower before she went to bed.

By the time the pizza was on the table, Buffy was driving herself crazy being so close to Faith with her mind full of lascivious thoughts that intensified with every little laugh that escaped Faith's lips. She was really in over her head now, lost to the unbridled sexuality that was purely Faith. She'd nearly forgotten that it was the night out for her birthday until after the pizza was done and the waiter brought out a slice of double fudge chocolate cake and placed it in front of her.

Halfway through the happy birthday's, Faith reached out and took a small swipe of the icing and winked at Buffy as she licked it from her finger. The awkwardness of feeling the way she was about Faith around her friends had disappeared only for those few short minutes.

"What'd you wish for?" Faith asked softly when Buffy blew out the single candle and plucked it from the cake and licked the frosting from it.

"If I tell you, it won't come true."

"I bet I know what it was," she whispered as she reached for a fork and took a hefty piece and smirked as she took a bite. Buffy rolled her eyes as she grabbed the fork from her before she could steal another piece. "What? It's a huge piece of cake, B. Aren't you gonna share? Don't want to put on those extra pounds especially now that you've got a year to go before you are thirty."

"You are such an ass, Faith."

The bemused looks on everyone's faces wasn't lost on her when she finally tore her eyes away from Faith's. They were used to their usual banter, but this was slightly different than normal. There were smiles that'd never been there before, the tone in their voices that said more than the words they spoke.

With a roll of her eyes, Buffy took a forkful of her birthday cake then motioned for everyone to help themselves. As soon as the cake was finished and the bill paid for, by Xander surprisingly, they all headed back to the house. It was a short walk which was why they never drove to the club or to the restaurant. They were used to walking everywhere even though they all had their own vehicles. Buffy found herself trailing behind everyone once again with Faith walking close next to her.

"You gonna go to bed when you get back to the house?" Faith asked quietly as she shoved both her hands into her jacket pockets.

"No, we're going to talk, Faith."

"You sure that's wise, B?"

"We need to talk about this. We're not going to act like nothing is happening by the time tomorrow rolls around. We need to figure out what we're doing, Faith. I can't keep thinking about you the way I have and not know where this is going."

"I get you," she sighed. "We'll talk, B. We'll figure this out."

"And when I say talk, I mean talk not...you know."

Faith chuckled as she looked over at her. Buffy let out a soft sigh as they walked up to the front door, both of them hanging back until everyone else was inside. Faith lit a cigarette, her first all night and Buffy leaned against the closed front door, watching her as she leaned against the railing, the cigarette dangling from her lips and her eyes firmly locked with Buffy's.

She closed her eyes, unable to hold the insatiable gaze without wanting to throw Faith up against the front door and kiss her, touch her, make her feel everything she was feeling just with Faith's eyes on her. It was starting to derail her, more so than just slightly. Everything she was feeling, everything she had been feeling over the last year and especially the last couple of weeks, was speeding ahead far too fast and there was no emergency brakes, no stops, nothing. There was one thing, two technically, standing in their way, keeping them from being together and she had a feeling it wouldn't be like that for much longer.