Chapter Ten

The next evening, Tara, Willow, Joyce and Thomas sat at the dining room table discussing how to get the gang out of jail. Their ideas were few and far between and all welcomed the break when the door shook with a firm knock. "That sounds like Faith," Willow said and rose to get the door.

"I-I-I'll get it," Tara stammered as she looked at her father. The two of them had a long way to go in their relationship but Tara hoped they could repair it.

"Tara, you don't have to talk with her just yet if you don't want…" Willow's words were cut off as Faith barged in the door.

"What's up with that Red, you after my girl now?" Faith asked as her dark eyes flickered about the room with a coldness Tara had not seen before.

"Faith, Tara is good; you chose your side when you went with the mayor." Willow said with an inward fear that she refused to let the others see. Someone had to be strong against Faith and, though she didn't feel very strong, she would do her best to fake it.

"If I recall, Tara is the one who walked out the door with you freaks of nature! Tara is the one who chose to set B free! That was none of my doing!" Faith shot back in anger.

"Willow, it's probably best that you don't further agitate her." Joyce said in her usual calm voice.

"I'm not gonna let Faith manipulate Tara!" Willow said angrily.

"Tara is a big girl," Faith said circling passed Joyce over to the blonde. "So, is that how it is Tara? Just because I don't like B and she-witch here, you gonna leave me now?"

"Faith, it's not like that." Tara said softly as she wondered if she ever really knew Faith. "When I walked out that door, I was choosing good over evil, cousin or not, the man is evil." Her eyes dropped to the floor, as she couldn't bear to look at the slayer. Faith had a pull over her and she knew she could not accept her if she was going to be evil.

"Tara, you knew what I was about, you said you understood me," Faith said as she struggled to keep her temper in check. "You wanted to have something with me, now just because I'm not righteous, you're gonna leave me just like everyone else did huh?" Faith didn't care who heard her; she loved Tara and planned on keeping her in her life. She loved the mayor also and knew she had to find a way to make Tara remember their long talks. She hoped that this would make Tara remember how she told Faith she wouldn't leave her and that she understood her struggles.

"Faith won't hurt me Willow," Tara said as she stood up to follow the slayer out the door.

Willow stood to go after them but Joyce put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Willow, let her go. She has to do this in order to find out on her own what is and isn't."

Willow felt her stomach clench up in knots, she knew then that she was falling for the good-hearted witch. She also knew that if Faith hurt her, she would find a way to seek vengeance on the dark slayer. "All right, I guess we should find a way to free the gang with Faith distracted."

"Right you are," Thomas said as he worried about his daughter. He truly felt she was safe with Faith, the Faith he knew that is but did he know the real Faith?

- - - - - - - -

Faith and Tara walked inside a well-decorated apartment. It had all the fixings a young girl of Faith's taste could want. A large stereo with cd's and big screen TV with a play station lined one wall. A mini-bar, weapons chest and small bookshelf lined the other wall. A plush sectional sofa was at the other end of the room with a large table in the center. "T-T-This is nice." Tara said, as she looked the room over.

"Yeah, the Mayor set it all up for me." Faith said as she went in the kitchen and brought out a tray of food she'd had delivered while they were on their way to the apartment. "Tara, why don't we have some dinner then we can talk?"

"That sounds good," Tara said with less stammer than earlier. The more she looked into Faith's captivating brown eyes, the safer she felt. She wasn't sure as to her next move but knew Faith did care; she just had to.

Faith sat a plate of food in front of Tara. "It's good stuff, sorta like your grandma used to make." Faith hoped her words weren't the wrong ones. She wanted to make Tara feel at ease with her and knew how much Tara loved home cooked meals. "The chef at this restaurant is real popular around here."

Tara returned Faith's smile though was afraid to give the slayer any hopes. Her heart ached because she cared for the slayer very deeply but knew she couldn't live a life of evil and hoped Faith couldn't either. "Thanks," Tara said softly as the two ate their meal in virtual silence.

"Tara," Faith said with a serious look on her face as the two sat down from clearing the table. "Y'know, I never lead you on nor lied to you about who I was. I never made any big redemption promises to you either but when you walked off like that, I felt like it was all a lie. I thought you were willing to except me for who I was and knew I was trying to not do so much wrong."

Tara studied the brunette as she spoke and saw the pain in her eyes. She too was pained because she let Faith down. "Faith, it's not like that. I understand you have loyalties to the Mayor and I meant it when I said I wanted to be with you. You had a choice though and you blatantly chose to harm a decent human being without any thought."

"Just like you expected I would be a perfect little slayer after all I told you. You knew I was far from good Tara!" Faith's voice rose in anger yet her eyes cloaked it well. "I told you I would never hurt you! I never once told you I would help B, not once and you knew the score between us because it was explained to you."

Tara's eyes glanced around the room, anywhere but near the angry slayer. She knew Faith was upset and hurt but she was also and didn't know quite what to do. "Faith, I thought what we had was growing into something special and I never expected you to turn on your boss but," Tara lowered her head as she spoke. She realized, at that split second, that is exactly what she had expected of Faith. She knew people couldn't change on a dime, yet she somehow expected that the little time she shared with Faith was enough to change her. That she had what it took to reshape Faith's traumatic life into something good in such a brief time. She realized that she might have made a fatal mistake, that maybe she should have stood by Faith and encouraged her to change her ways rather than running out on her. Faith needed to be shown that someone good was going to hang in there; believed in her, and knew she could change and Tara had done just the opposite. She had only proved nobody stays in Faith's life. She began to cry with this realization because she was certain there was no fixing it now. She believed that once Faith was hurt, she closed off to the person dishing out the hurt forever.

When Tara looked back at the slayer, she saw no emotion in her eyes as she watched Tara's tears fall and that only hurt Tara more. "Faith, this is all new to me also. I thought you were choosing evil over me and I ran. I don't want you to have to make life-altering choices just for me. I want you to make them for you and I'm so sorry I got scared and ran. I wasn't planning on doing that because I do care. You've got to believe me Faith; I acted impulsively and really have made a mess of things. Of course, I want you to be on the good side but I can't force you and I knew that from the beginning. I'm not certain how far down the road I can handle the dark side Faith but I'm willing to give us a try if you can forgive me."

Faith studied the blonde for several minutes. She loved Tara's blue eyes because they oozed with love, compassion and most of all, honesty. "Nobody has ever asked my forgiveness before." Faith said in a low voice as she tried to calm her overactive mind. Part of her was saying to let Tara go for her own good while another part of her was screaming for her to forgive the beautiful woman and claim what was hers. The third part of Faith, the small good part left in her was saying, maybe you can climb out of this and become a true slayer if you let her love guide you. "Tara, trust comes very hard for me y'know but all I want to do right now is take you in my arms and kiss you. I want to hold you till the morning comes and let everything else go. I missed getting to hold you so much when I was busy helping the Mayor with your grandmother and I wish I was there for you when you found her out."

Without another word, Faith stood and turned to Tara. She leaned down and pulled the blonde into a firm embrace then placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I've wanted to do that ever since I had to go away for awhile Tara. I may not be perfect and my loyalties may be questionable but I don't want you to doubt that I care for you. I will never hurt you Tara." Faith spoke softly in between kisses in which Tara responded enjoyably to.

Tara felt safe and secure in Faith's arms and believed the slayer wouldn't purposefully hurt her. Another part of her feared what would happen if the mayor ever made Faith choose between he and Tara but she let Faith's kisses and tender touches wash all of that away for the time being. She had all she ever desired in life at that moment, someone who was attentive to her needs and desires, was telling her how she felt and made her feel secure.

What Tara couldn't figure out however, was why the electrical feeling she and Willow shared when their hands touched came up in her mind. She and Faith were progressing into the heavy make out stage when it happened the warm sensation she felt with Willow crept its way in her mind. She tried to block the feeling out because she knew it was wrong to have thoughts of another while with someone. No matter how she tried to concentrate on Faith though, she couldn't shake the presence of Willow's touch.

As Faith slowly eased Tara into more passionate making out, her slayer senses kicked in. "Tara," she said in a low aroused voice. "Are you all right with this?"

Tara contemplated whether or not to stop. She wanted more than anything to be with Faith out of love and to assure the slayer she was not going to run out on her so easily any more. "I-I-I'm all right." Tara managed to get out as Faith aggressively kissed her.

Faith tried to shake off the feeling she was getting that something wasn't right and it worked. She pored all her energy into loving Tara for what she hoped was the first of many nights to come.