A/N – I apologize heartily for making you all wait so long. I've had a busy week. But, I'm going to make it up right now. Here you go. I give you -
Chapter 7"And then he was like – UNGH!" Faith spoke, her eyes glinting. "And I was all like – 'This is for looking so monkey-butt ugly!'"
Buffy snorted. Faith stopped the story to look at her and grin, "Okay, I was too busy gasping for air to tell him that, but I really wanted to!"
"Right," Buffy nodded, pulling her knees to her chest. "So, then what?"
" Okay, then I grabbed this enormous wooden beam, right?" Faith raised her hand, reliving the previous night. "And BLAM I bring it down like this and he screams and then poof, no more Khaki Toes!"
The brunette beamed at her friend. "It's like over! I get to have a fucking uber-vamp free summer!"
Buffy grinned as the brunette plopped onto the couch next to her. "Alright, before having a relatively normal summer I have to do some serious grovelling for Diana. She's not wicked happy that I took a leaf out of your book and knocked her out and all that."
The blonde laughed. "Yeah, Giles wasn't very thrilled about that part either, but... I couldn't take him with me, you know? Didn't want him out there, especially since I was pretty sure I was going to kick the bucket anyways."
"Luckily for us that didn't happen," Faith spoke, turning around to face her friend. "Still, Di is damn awesome with a crossbow, but you had one hell of a point. I didn't want her to die or something. I kinda need her around, ya know?"
"Of course," Buffy bobbed her head enthusiastically, "You'd starve if you didn't have anyone to cook for you."
"Hey!" Faith exclaimed, kicking the other girl lightly. "I can cook!"
"Yeah, you know, toast doesn't actually count," the girl laughed, jerking away from the foot that tried to kick her again. "C'mon Faithy, I'm just joking."
Faith crossed her arms on her chest. "I am deeply offended, B."
"Fa-a-ith."
"Offended!" The girl repeated.
"Fa-a-a-a-ith," Buffy urged.
"Nope, still offended."
"Ah, isn't it great that Kakistos is dead," Buffy sighed, changing tactics. Instantly Faith's face broke into a full-fledged grin.
"Hell yeah!" She paused. "Wait! That's cheating, B!"
"Cheating? I didn't know we were playing something," The blonde raised a playful eyebrow. "Though... that's amendable."
Faith let her hands fall to her sides. She contemplated the idea.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Well, given that this is a special day," the blonde spoke, "We could start a new tradition. Games."
"Games," Faith repeated.
"Yeah. C'mon, it's been a while since we forgot the vampires and the hairy monsters under our beds and did something fun. What do you say?"
Faith grinned wickedly. Suddenly two bottles of something appeared in her hands. "Since we are celebrating, I propose a drinking game!"
"I'm not going to get drunk with you!" Buffy protested almost immediately, as two glasses also appeared out of the blue.
"It's a dream, B," Faith reminded her, "It's not like you're going to have a hangover tomorrow. Besides, drinking makes every game a lot more fun."
While Buffy still remained doubtful, Faith raised the half filled glass. "It was your idea, B. Are ya backing out already?"
Scowling, Buffy grabbed the glass. "What are we playing?"
"How about good ol' Truth or Dare?"
"You're so on."
XxXxXxXxXx
Buffy's tongue darted out to wet her lips. Nervous didn't even begin to cover what she was currently feeling. She glanced at the girl who sat a small distance away from her. She involuntarily bit her lip, preparing herself for every possible scenario.
Faith exhaled audibly. This was Buffy. She knew Buffy. She could do it. She leant closer slowly, deciding to give it a shot. "B?" She whispered.
Buffy's green eyes fluttered up to meet Faith's brown ones. Her breath hitched. Faith parted her lips slightly. This was it.
"Threes?"
Buffy laughed loudly, utterly relieved. "Go Fish, Faithy."
"Damn it," The brunette cursed, pulling back. Maybe intimidating Buffy to give her some kind of a hint didn't work after all. Distorting her face in concentration, she pulled a card from the pile just to curse again.
The blonde beamed at her. "So, Faithy, you have any... Aces?"
Faith looked at her, disbelief written across her features "You're joking!? You can't have an ace!"
Buffy flashed the ace of spades. Faith groaned before handing three aces to the blonde, who smugly accepted them and then put all four cards on the ground. "You're going down," she declared.
"Bring it on, B," Faith narrowed her eyes, putting on her perfect poker face. Buffy's eyes darted to her hand and back to her own cards.
"Queens?"
"Ha, Go F... Damn, wait, I have one," The brunette frowned. "Where the hell did I get that anyways?!"
"Oh, c'mon, don't be a sore loser," Buffy grinned, placing the received queen next to the other ones.
"Who said anything about losing?" Faith snorted. "I'm not going to lose." She adjusted the pillow behind her back and waited until Buffy asked for another card.
"Tens?" The blonde asked after a moment of consideration.
Faith thoroughly checked her cards. "Nope, Go Fish, B."
The blonde frowned, while Faith remembered something. "Talking about fishing, how's it going with you and Mr. Soul?"
"Don't call him that," Buffy warned and when Faith opened her mouth, she added, "And no, you can't call him Dead Boy, Soul Boy, Pale Dude or anything else similar."
"And for the record I haven't talked to him. It's not like I can give him a call or something," the blonde shrugged, pulling a card from the pile. "Fuck."
Faith chuckled. "B, you're hanging out with me way too much. Bad influence and all that."
"Zip it," Buffy replied, smiling slightly. "By the way you do not want to ask me for eights."
(Moment of silence)
"You can't do that," Faith protested. "Now I'm thinking that you're saying that because you want me to ask for it... OR you know I'll think that and you really have the eight... Either that or you knew I'd figure it out and this was your plan all along, so you actually don't have it!"
Buffy replied by snickering.
"Okay," Faith gave Buffy a searching look. Her posture didn't reveal anything, so she moved the gaze to her eyes. The girls' eyes locked and for a moment and they just sat there staring into each other's eyes, until Faith sighed.
"Eights?"
For a moment she thought Buffy's weird plan had actually worked and she had just let herself fall into a trap, but a second later Buffy shook her head handing the eight of hearts over. The younger Slayer grinned victoriously. The game was on and she was so going to win.
-Fifteen minutes later-"You got lucky," Faith repeated, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to appear brooding. She was failing miserably, since the sight in front of her made the corner of her lips rise no matter what she tried.
"B, what the hell are you doing?" She laughed, unable to keep up the gloomy expression.
"This is my victory dance," The blonde spoke, grinning from ear to ear, as she flapped her hands around slightly while jumping on the bed.
"Okay this is the point where I have to ask – Are you sixteen or five?"
Buffy just laughed, though she did stop the jumping. She turned around, with that look on her face. Faith's eyes widened. "Oh no, no, no, no..."
But before she could do something, the blonde had tackled her.
"B, don't. C'mon! Act your age!" Faith tried to struggle free, but the blonde just sat on her stomach. "B! You know, you can't... No! Stop it! B! BUFFY!" She gasped out between the gasps of laughter that she couldn't control.
Faith tried to get away from the torturing hands but it was rather useless. Damn the older girl and her stupid Slayer strength and knowledge about Faith's ticklish spots. "Buffy! Can't breathe!" She gasped. A while later she had to surrender, "C'mon. I'm sorry. I'm fucking sorry. You're not five!"
"Giving up, huh?" Buffy chuckled, stopping the tickling for a moment. Unknown to her this was exactly what Faith had been waiting for. Before the blonde even knew what was happening, she had been flipped over and now the positions had changed.
Faith grinned down at her, slightly flushed from the previous laughing. Buffy struggled a bit, trying to get free, but after a while she was forced to concede defeat. She stopped moving and stared up at the younger Slayer, pulling faces at her.
"B," Faith shook her head, obvious to the fact that her hair was tickling Buffy's neck as she did so. The way the blonde shifted her head constantly should've given her a hint, but she was a tad bit busy teasing.
"So, you think you know how to mess with me?" The brunette asked. Buffy grinned at her.
"Yeah, definitely, more than anyone else anyways," she replied, doing the mature thing and poking out her tongue. Faith laughed, as she leaned back, surveying the blonde.
"Seriously, which happy bug bit you, B?" She finally asked.
"I'll tell you if you get off me," Buffy bargained, "You weigh a ton!"
"Hey!" Faith exclaimed, for some reason unable to stop smiling. "I should so get you for that, but since I'm nice and I do recall having extra portion of jell-O tonight..." She stood up, pulling the still grinning Buffy up with her.
"Okay, you still have to explain what's going on with you, B," Faith spoke up after a while, when the blonde kept acting like a friggin' Duracell bunny on E.
"I don't have a clue," The blonde chuckled, as the two girls now laid side-by-side in the bed. "Actually..." She stopped laughing, propped herself up on her elbow and glanced at Faith. "I think it's you."
Faith expressed herself smoothly and very smartly. "Huh?"
"Yeah," Buffy nodded, "I mean I've had the crappiest month ever, as you are aware. My dad is constantly working 24/7 and the only things keeping me out of utter depression are the dreams I share with you, you know?"
Faith turned to face the blonde, who continued, "Then I have this horrible fight with Dad and I brood in my room, really miserable, angry at everything kinda deal. "
Buffy chuckled, "So I arrive in this dream, all gloomy and unhappy and then you pop out with your silly jokes and card games and incredibly amusing stories about your completely awful dating history and..." the blonde snapped her fingers, "I haven't had so much fun in a long time."
"Glad that someone finds my nonexistent luck with guys amusing," Faith gave the blonde an evil eye, but the small smile on her lips lessened its power.
Buffy leant against the headboard of the bed, sitting up, grinning again, "C'mon those lame morons didn't deserve you anyways."
Faith laughed. "Oh really, so those guys didn't deserve me, yeah? Weren't you the one who told me to go out with Michael in the first place?"
The blonde smirked. "How was I supposed to know he had some kind of a foot fetish?! You kept telling me about him and I, urgently trying to save myself from yet another 'Michael is so wicked hot' conversations, saved my hide by telling you to agree to go on a date with him."
"Yeah right. A date," Faith snorted, "If I ever look towards anyone like Michael ever again, feel free to punch me."
Buffy saluted her jokingly. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" She then chuckled. "See? I was serious, Faith. Lately you've been the only one giving me something to laugh about and you can't imagine how grateful I am."
"I'm pretty sure I can," Faith fell on her back again, staring at the ceiling. She sighed. Things with her weren't that great either. Her future was marked with a bright red flashing question mark. For a week or so, Diana had planned on moving away from Boston. Ever since Kakistos's death, the vampire activity in the city had dropped drastically. By now, Faith was lucky to find one vampire per night. So since Diana was still her Watcher, it was her duty to make sure the Slayer was in an area worth her time.
Boston just wasn't that anymore. Last time they talked, Diana had been rather thrilled about some place in Mexico. Muchos vampirios therio. Two days ago it had been Cleveland. If forced to choose Faith would rather take the latter. Mexico... just wasn't her thing.
Mentally moping now, Faith didn't see the pillow coming until it hit her right into her face.
"No despair allowed today!" Buffy exclaimed. Faith rolled her eyes. She was just moping in the inside. You can mope there!
Still, the blonde had just hit her with a pillow. It gave the younger girl two options. To continue the moping or to get revenge. After a split second of doubt, the pillow was sent flying. Buffy of course responded by hurling it back at the other girl. Soon enough there was a full-fledged pillow fight going on. It stopped when Buffy, who had only closed her eyes for a moment, opened them to see the ceiling of her bedroom.
Annoyed, the blonde hit the off button on her alarm clock. Now remembering the dream, she grinned, shaking her head, as she climbed out of the bed. She grabbed her clothes and headed towards the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later she appeared downstairs in the kitchen, still beaming. It was like the grin on her face was stuck there! Unable to stop herself, she hummed under her breath, while taking out something to drink other than the horrible tomato juice her father seemed to be so fond of.
She looked around the empty apartment. Her dad had left early to work. What a big surprise. Buffy might've taken it a bit more sullenly, but the dream was still etched into her mind. Chuckling, she grabbed her glass, some sandwich materials and walked into the living room, turning on the TV.
Everything was going to be just fine.
XxXxXxXxXx
Buffy laughed, jumping away from the brunette. "I would never have guessed, Faithy. You found yourself a good friend in a girl that most see as a bitchy cheerleader."
"B, I've never thought you as a bitchy person," Faith retorted, grinning.
"Touché," Buffy replied. "But for the record I haven't been a cheerleader over a year now. Besides I never bounced around like I owned the world."
"She's not that bad," Faith protested, dodging. "Way smarter than the groupies that seem to follow her around all the time. Those three and the constant giggling and brainless attitude... Sometimes I really want to just grab the and... UNGH!"
The blonde snorted, "Faith, didn't we talk about the grunting?" She then got onto a more serious note. "There's no apocalypse coming though? Nothing trying to take over the world?"
"Nope, just the usual vampires. More of them than I'm used to, but I'll live," Faith groaned, as Buffy's fist collided with her stomach. "No biggie."
"At least you have something to do," Buffy spoke, advancing on the younger girl cautiously, "I think I'm starting to grow to the couch. It already has a nice little Buffy-shaped crater in it."
The younger girl snorted, leaning down as she tripped the blonde, who fell onto her back. She flipped herself up a second later though and turned to face the brunette.
B, you're getting old, a-ah," Faith yelped suddenly, evading the kick aimed at her face. As she regained her balance, she smirked, "Yup, old 'n gray."
"Would you stop pretending to be weak? You are pretending right," Buffy tilted her head, teasing, as pressed forward. "C'mon, just-make-your-move."
Every punch was blocked by Faith, who almost instantly went offensive. "I'm-trying-here," she dodged and then continued trying to take the other girl out. Managing to get the other girl into a chokehold, she grinned.
"So, going to give u - OUCH!"
The brunette blinked away the stars in front of her eyes. "Woah, that's a wicked move." she finally managed to speak, as she stared up at the blonde hovering above her, as she laid spread out on the mat.
Buffy grinned at her, reaching out her hand to pull the girl up. But as soon as Faith's hand touched her own, Buffy felt her leg being kicked away from under her and a moment later she scrambled onto the floor, landing next to te brunette.
"Okay, how come I always fall for you," Buffy spoke, breathing heavily as she scrambled onto her feet.
Faith laughed. "Oh, don't beat yourself up for it. The best of them fall for my charms. I'm just so damn irresistible."
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm starting to see why you became friends with the cheerleader of all people."
The brunette just frowned at her, before reaching out her hand. Buffy looked at her.
"What? Do you honestly think I'll ever help you up again after what you did?"
Faith pouted, moving her hand slightly, still reaching towards the blonde. Buffy gave her the evil eye. Faith responded with her version of puppy dog eyes.
A moment passed. It was a hectic battle between Buffy's evil eye and Faith's puppy dog look.
Buffy sighed audibly, grabbing the outstretched hand and pulling the brunette up grudgingly. Faith laughed as soon as she was standing up.
"Works as a charm," she nudged her best friend. "Good to see I haven't lost my touch."
"Why should you?" Buffy asked back, "I'm sure you use that goddamned look on everyone to get what you want."
"Nah, B. It's reserved for you," Faith winked. The blonde smiled slightly and the brunette grabbed her hand. "C'mon, let's sit down. You will not believe who I danced with at the nightclub today."
XxXxXxXxXx
"So, anyways Valerie heard from Miley, who heard from Stella, who heard from Victoria, who heard from Katie, who heard from Carmen, who heard from Michelle, who heard from Jason, who..."
"Argh, Gina, we get the point. The list is long," a brunette snapped at the girl, "What's the damn message?!"
Faith exchanged a grin with the brunette, thankful for her sharp comment. She was already on edge and didn't really want an excuse to attack someone, even if it happened to be the blonde blabbermouth, who had been a major pain since day one.
The girl glanced at the two brunettes, frowning.
"Well?"
Faith watched with amusement, as Gina seemed to shrink slightly because CC's tone. Though she perked up as she begun to convey the news.
"The rumour is that the loser of the freak-crew has a crush on..." The girl paused for dramatic effect, before squealing, "Faith!"
A moment of silence. Faith dragged her eyes away from the clock she had been staring intensely at.
"Me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in her own patented way. Gina nodded, enthusiasm written across her features. She was almost expecting for drama. Well boohoo for her.
"Oh," Faith glanced at the clock again. When her eyes returned to the two other occupants of the room, she found them staring at her like she was an alien.
"Oh? That's all you've got to say?" the other brunette asked, her eyebrows knitting together. "I mean, this is horrible."
"Yeah, well, what the fuck can I do about it?" Faith snapped. She instantly regretted it when the girl looked slightly wounded. "Listen, I'm not feeling very good and that was a real shocker and all..."
"So, I'm just going to go. Sleep on it. Come up with a plan of action by tomorrow," she offered.
It seemed to be the right thing to say, since CC smiled slightly. Gina though started to giggle like a maniac, probably mishearing her or something. Faith frowned, but had to smirk, when CC rubbed her temples, looking at the blonde.
"Yeah, it's rather late. You should really go," the cheerleader added, pointedly looking at Gina, who didn't seem to take the hint. "Bye."
Faith grabbed her jacket, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Right, you're joining us in our personal hell aka school tomorrow. Can't wait to see what you're going to wear."
"You're looking at it," Faith gestured at her leather boots, black jeans, red top and leather jacket.
"Is this the point where I should be all surprised? 'Cause I'm really not," The brunette grinned at the Slayer. She then turned to glare at Gina. "So, BYE!"
"Yeah, bye, Faith," the blonde spoke, plopped onto the couch. Faith hid her amusement for the look on CC's face.
"Good luck," she whispered, before slipping out the house. She had to be somewhere. She walked down the abandoned streets, having a certain place in mind. Soon enough she was almost there. Only a block away...
"Damn it. NOW?!" Faith groaned mentally, preparing herself for a confrontation.
"Hello, beautiful," Two men approached her, emerging from the shadows. "You shouldn't be out all by yourself so late." One of them drawled out lazily.
"Yes, a girl like you," the other man took over, approaching her. "All alone..."
"A walking juice box," he leered, leaning in. Faith sighed.
"Listen," she pretended to zip up her boot, her hand finding the stake easily, "I'm kinda occupied here, so could we get on with it? No witty insult exchange, just good old ass whooping?"
Before the two vampires could even begin to comprehend what was happening, Faith had already withdrawn the stake from the first vampire. With satisfaction, she watched as he turned into ashes.
"I'll kill you for that!" The remaining vampire almost screeched, watching in horror as his friend's remains floated away with the wind.
Faith gave him a quizzical look. "You're going to kill me for that? What were you trying to kill me before?"
The face of the man warped as he charged at the girl. She side-stepped him easily. As he turned around, his eyes grew wide. The stake thrown at him pierced his skin almost immediately. He screamed and then in a small cloud of dust, he was gone.
Faith picked up the stake, placing it back into her boot. Then she continued her walk while cursing the vampires and their shitty timing.
It didn't take long for her to make it to her destination. She stood on the driveway, glancing at the house.
"Smart, Faith. Real smart. How do I even know if..." her inner battering stopped immediately. A small tingly feeling shot through her. "Oh."Weighing her options, the brunette walked around the house. Here goes nothing. She grabbed the branch of the oak nearby and hauled herself up. Then she continued climbing, until she was sitting on the large branch by a window. She was about to knock on it, when the window was pushed open with a swish.
"AH!"
A hand on her shoulder stopped her from plummeting to the ground. She grinned at the owner of the said hand.
"Welcome home, B."
XxXxXxXxXx
A/N – AH! I'm done. It's 1 am and I have school tomorrow, but I am DONE! I'm so sorry for the delay, really. But I finally did it! So... to show appreciation, you might leave a tiny review, right? I'm not wanting much... maybe twice as much as for the last chapter. (Cackles evilly) Nah, really...
Love ya all, people. Just tell me if you have questions or suggestions. I like suggestions. Since I only have one plot point right now...
