A/N: Will Faith be able to get over her nerves and make a move on Buffy? Or will Xander and Anya's wedding get in the way?

This is set during Hells Bells, but as always with this fic that just means some parts of that episode are canon to this story.

Chapter 9: Nerves

Faith feels all kinds of jittery as she stares at herself in the mirror. She's really not one for getting all dressed up, but even if she's never been to one she knows weddings require a certain amount of effort. Even with the nerves, she knows she looks damn good in her low cut red silk blouse and her fitted black blazer and pants. It just feels foreign. Hopefully it impresses Buffy and makes it all worth it.

Sighing she gives the mirror one last look before walking down the hall to Buffy's room. Time to get this show on the road.

"B?" she calls as she knocks on the already opened door. The last thing she needs right now is to get all hot and bothered seeing Buffy not completely dressed. She doesn't think red cheeks would really compliment her look.

"Almost ready! You can come in," Buffy calls and Faith walks inside.

Buffy is at the mirror frowning at her own reflection.

"You're lucky you're not in the wedding party," Buffy says glumly as she pulls at the sleeves of her dress. Faith isn't sure she's ever seen a dress as hideous as the monstrosity Buffy is in and yet Buffy still looks gorgeous.

"You look beautiful, B," Faith says sincerely and she sees Buffy's cheeks turn pink in the mirror. She smirks, feeling rather pleased with herself at Buffy's reaction.

"Seriously, B they should give you a medal for making that disaster of a dress look hot."

Faith doesn't even attempt to hide the way she looks Buffy up and down as Buffy turns to face her. Ever since her chat with Riley a few days ago she's decided to take the flirting up a notch. Buffy's shy smile and even pinker cheeks are proof that it's definitely being noticed and appreciated.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Buffy says, suddenly coy as she takes in Faith's outfit.

Her heartbeat speeds up in a way that is becoming familiar as Buffy moves closer to her, her hand reaching out to grip lightly on Faith's blazer.

"This really suits you," Buffy says and Faith's pretty sure Buffy's flirting. She wonders if maybe this is the moment as Buffy continues to stare up at her, hand still resting gently on Faith's arm.

"This is so unfair!"

And just like that, the moments over as Buffy drops her arm and they both turn to see Willow standing in the doorway looking miserable in a dress that matches Buffy's.

"I'm the best man, so why do you get to look all dashing in a suit when I'm stuck like this?"

"Sorry Red, even in a suit you couldn't dream of reaching this level of hotness," Faith grins, shooting a wink Willow's way.

Buffy's answering giggle makes her think that today might present another moment. She really hopes so, it would be a shame for this level of hotness to go to waste.


Anya may have given up on being a demon, but she sure as hell still kept that side for today. She's put everyone, including Faith, to work on making sure everything is perfect for the ceremony. And boy is it hard to reach perfection with a bunch of demons (Anya's side) and drunks (Xander's) doing their very best to drive each other crazy.

Faith is currently walking around the hall with Tara. They're supposed to be checking that the flowers are set up, but really they're just keeping an eye on the guests. It's not all bad, she could be stuck helping Xander get into his slightly too small suit like Buffy is or listening to Anya's vows for the millionth time with Red. Xander and sex poodle are not things she wants to hear in the same sentence again. It had been kind of funny watching Willow and Tara pretend they weren't flirting with each other as they helped Anya get ready smirks to herself, deciding that teasing Tara may just be a good way to pass the time as they scan the crowd

"Saw you getting friendly with Red before."

"Well we are trying to be friends and friends can be friendly," Tara tries to sound nonchalant, but her blush gives her away and Faith grins at her.

"I'm hurt you've never been that 'friendly' with me," Faith waggles her eyebrows playfully at Tara who just rolls her eyes.

A crash startles them both and Faith can see Xander's dad stumbling near a chair that shouldn't be on the ground. He picks it up, muttering something about circus freaks. Xander's dad makes Faith feel nostalgic in the worst way. She is grateful to see Buffy approaching him because angry, drunk parents really aren't something she's good at dealing with. All the practice with her ma hadn't really taught her anything except when to get the hell out of the house.

She catches Buffy's eye and smiles at her. Her heart skips a beat when she gets the patented Buffy half smile back as Buffy leads Mr Harris away from the bar.

"When did you start receiving the cute 'Buffy's flirting' smile?" Tara asks with a sly smile.

"Shut up," she mutters feeling a little embarrassed, but she can't keep the smile of her face. It's just so freaking nice to be the one Buffy's smiling like that at. Three years ago she received that smile once or twice and it made her feel like she could do anything. And then everything had gone to shit. It's surreal that now she's back to Buffy making her feel like she can do anything again.

Still, she's not about to be the one being teased here.

"Now get back to giving me the deets on you and Red."

The mood shifts as Tara sighs, "it's just…complicated."

Faith nods, she gets it. She might not have been here for it, but she knows the story. She can see that Tara is still hurting. Red is still hurting too. She just thinks maybe they could help ease the hurt together.

"Red and I aren't about to become besties, but she's getting a lot better with the magic stuff. You love her right? So go for it."

"I don't know," Tara says looking unsure.

"I'm serious!" Faith exclaims, "take the bull by the horns or the cow by the udder in your case I guess."

Tara laughs before looking past Faith to where Faith just knows Buffy is. Like always she can feel her.

"Maybe you should follow your own advice," Tara offers, arching an eyebrow.

"Already working on it," Faith answers as she turns to smile at Buffy again. She doesn't think she'll ever get over the warmth that spreads through her as Buffy smiles back.


Xander going missing isn't exactly a shock to Faith. Just watching his parents interact had given her major flashbacks to her own childhood. Less beer bottles flying and no black eyes, but even her parents had behaved slightly better in public. So it makes sense to her that marriage would have him majorly freaking out. Not that she's at all on board with the shitty timing of him bailing on the girl he claims to love.

Buffy and the gang are all desperately trying to find him before Anya finds out so Faith has been sent outside to look for him. So far it's proving rather useless, but it's better walking around good ol' Sunnydale then dealing with the manic energy back in the hall. The thing is, she's really not close to Xander so she has no idea where he might go and-

Well standing in the middle of the street really isn't where she thought Xander would be hiding out. God he looks ridiculous just staring up at the sky, soaking wet and looking utterly miserable. Clearly he hadn't had the smarts to bring an umbrella like Faith.

She walks slowly up to him and he looks to her, all sad puppy eyes, as he hears her approaching.

"No offence but you're not who I thought they'd send on the Xander searching mission," he says flatly and she shrugs.

"Well I'm more here cause I didn't want to have to attempt to keep Anya calm as they all stall."

He chuckles, but it sounds hollow. Faith can't help but wonder what's happened to him since she last saw him this morning. Then he was nervous and jittery, now he just seems defeated.

"I'm not coming back," he says looking away from Faith.

"Not going to make you," Faith responds, but she doesn't move to leave. Instead, she brings her umbrella up over him so it's covering them both. He looks back at her, clearly confused. Honestly the umbrella is kind of pointless given how wet he already is.

"You know my ma enjoyed the drink about as much as your old man seems to," she starts casually.

"Yeah he's thinking about turning pro," Xander laughs and Faith's surprised by the bitterness to it. She's only ever heard him sound like that about Angel. One of the few things they'd bonded over back in the day. He's always been so goofy that she never would have guessed his home life would be anything like what hers had been.

"I'm just saying, shitty parents suck. I'm the only person here who gets that like you do."

"I don't want to turn into them," Xander says suddenly, eyes a little wild as he looks at Faith. "I don't want me and Ahn to turn into that."

For a moment she just stares at him, unsure what to say to that. She doesn't really know why she's bothering with this. Maybe a part of her just needs to remind herself that not all relationships are doomed. Maybe another part of her needs to know that fucked up parents don't have to fuck up your own love life. Either way, she wants to help.

"One thing I learnt in jail is that I don't have to turn into my parents. Neither do you," she says quietly and man she wishes she had a cigarette right now. She hates opening up like this.

"I can't hurt her."

He looks so broken, so scared and Faith knows she's missing something here. Something definitely spooked him more than just pre-marriage cold feet. She's just not sure it really matters. In the big scheme of things it's his own doubts he has to get over.

Sighing she grabs his shoulders and makes him look at her. Dude needs some tough love and she's about to dish it out.

"Do what you want Xan, but don't not marry the girl you love cause you think you'll hurt dude, walking away now is what's going to hurt her. So if you're scared of ending up like your old man then you put in the work everyday to make sure you're better than that."

He looks at her, like really looks at her, and smiles. She can see a little of the Xander she knows again. It's freaky, but just like that the rain seems to stop. She lowers her umbrella and the sun is shining down on them.

"When did you get all wise with the wisdom and how do I get some?" he jokes, easing the tension.

"Took a coma, a body swap, a vamp with a soul and the big house. I can sort out the coma thing if you want?"

She grins at him, happy that their serious moment of bonding is over.

"I'll see if I can get a 'Wisdom for Dummies' book instead," he laughs, his eyes brightening and she knows she's done the right thing.

"Now come on I've got to make an honest woman out of an ex-demon."


The wedding was nice, as far as weddings go. If she's honest, Faith hadn't really heard much of the vows as, like a sap, she'd just been staring at Buffy. It makes her feel like the sappiness is worth it when she remembers that Buffy had stared right back.

Now, the reception is way better. There's free food and alcohol and the music is surprising good. Xander's dad has passed out which is really just better for everyone and the remaining members of the Harris clan are in a happy drunk state that allows them to get along well with the demons they think are circus folk.

She's currently taking a break from the dance floor at the bar. She had been dancing up a storm with Dawnie, Red and Tara, but as she was getting into it Dawn had rather rudely pulled her away. Dawnie had seen the flirty looks Tara and Red had been shooting each other and had been determined that they be left alone to explore that. Not that Faith would argue with that, though she does think Dawn is a little too invested in the whole thing. Willow and Tara do look happy though, dancing close.

She knocks back a whisky as she stares over at Buffy who is currently laughing with Dawn. She's trying to work up the courage to ask Buffy to dance. And not in the 'lets cut loose' way they always dance at the Bronze. She wants to dance with Buffy properly this time. She needs the liquid courage cause she's pretty sure B wants that too and that makes it better and worse. Better because she feels all light inside when she thinks about how Buffy might just want her back. Worse because of the butterflies she gets when she realizes how real that makes it.

"Now a girl who likes whisky is a girl that's right up my alley."

Faith turns to see a pretty blonde sitting next to her. She hadn't noticed her sit down, probably because she was too focused on the gorgeous blonde across the room.

"I'm Lucy," the blonde introduces herself when Faith says nothing.

"Faith," Faith replies to be polite, but she goes back to looking over at Buffy who is now staring right back at her.

She feels a hand on her arm and looks to see that Lucy has gotten much, much closer to her. She's looking Faith up and down with a sultry smile that would get almost anyone's motor going.

"Well Faith, you look like you could help me make this reception a lot more fun."

Faith huffs out a laugh at Lucy's complete lack of subtlety. She's got to give the girl props for being so straightforward. In another time she would have found it sexy as hell and she would have pounced on the other girl without another thought. But, right now she just wants to figure out a polite way to let this girl down.

"Dance with me."

She's saved from coming up with a response by an angry looking Buffy who is now standing in front of her. Buffy doesn't look angry at her though, instead her glare is directed at Lucy. And damn if that doesn't do wonders for her ego.

Buffy doesn't even wait for her to respond, instead she grabs Faith's hand and leads her out onto the dance floor. Not that Faith puts up much of a fight, she's rather enjoying how adorable Buffy looks all flustered. And she had wanted to dance with Buffy anyway.

"You jealous, B," she smirks as Buffy finally stops and turns to face her in the middle of the dance floor.

"What? No I just thought I would save you from that skank," Buffy responds, shooting another annoyed look in the direction of the bar and Faith laughs.

"Sure, whatever you say."

Buffy looks like she wants to protest, but instead she just huffs in annoyance and smiles a little sheepishly at Faith.

A slow song is playing and this time Faith doesn't hesitate. She just reaches forward and places her hands gently on Buffy's slender hips. Buffy smiles that smile again and slowly her own hands move, pulling Faith closer to her as they lock loosely behind Faith's neck.

Fuck, if she felt like her heart was beating fast before it's nothing compared to what it feels like now with Buffy pressed up against her. They move slowly to the music that now seems so distant as Buffy moves even closer, resting her head on Faith's shoulder. She can feel Buffy's breath hitting her neck and she can smell the jasmine in the perfume Buffy put on that morning. All she can think about is how right it feels to hold Buffy in her arms like this.

"This is nice," Buffy whispers after a few minutes as pulls back slightly to look up at Faith, "being close to you like this. I like it."

"Want to get some air?" Faith asks, because everything in her is struggling to not just kiss Buffy right now. And while her brain is a Buffy induced mess right now, she knows enough to know she shouldn't kiss her for the first time in a room full of her friends.

Buffy nods and pulls away from Faith, lacing her fingers through one of Faith's hands as she leads them towards the back door.

It's a little cold outside and without a thought Faith shrugs off her blazer and offers it to Buffy.

"Didn't realize you were so cheesy," Buffy says as she accepts the jacket with a playful grin. It's getting stupid how often she finds herself blushing around Buffy these days.

"Well I can take it back if you don-"

She's cut off by strong hands pulling at her blouse and Buffy's lips covering her own. The shock wears off quickly as her eyes drift shut and she reaches for Buffy's waist, pulling her closer as she sinks into the kiss.

This moment right here, with her lips pressed gently against those of the girl she loves, well it's definitely worth the wait.

A/N: Only took 9 chapters and over 20,000 words but finally a kiss! Where will we go from here?

Hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is always appreciated :)