It was excruciating for Faith to watch Buffy get ready for her date the next day.
True, she did get to see Buffy in her underwear a lot that day as she kept switching between potential outfits. But it still hurt her to see how much trouble Buffy was putting into it.
Every time Buffy asked for her opinion Faith smiled as if she had just bitten down on a lemon and murmured something like "Sure. You look nice.".
When Buffy was finally done and had left for her big date, Faith felt about ready to rip the room apart. Which was probably a very bad idea considering she had just bought herself all kinds of nice new things with the pocket money Giles had given her.
She tried to focus on her new possessions to calm herself down.
She now had her very own alarm clock and a lamp on the nightstand by her bed. She'd gotten herself some cooking tools and food as well so she didn't have to keep borrowing from Buffy.
And her wardrobe was filled with all kinds of cool new clothes.
The thing that made her happiest however she had kept hidden in a drawer because she couldn't stand to hear anymore jokes about 'Faith the bookworm' or 'Bacchus' fiance'. It was an old copy of 'The Once and Future King' she had gotten from a second hand bookstore. It hadn't exactly been the cheapest version they had, but Faith had gotten this one because it resembled the copy that she had read at her grandparents house so many years ago.
She got it out and settled down on her bed. Ever since she had talked about it in class she had wanted to read it again and well, she could do with some distracting right now.
Rereading this book brought back a lot of memories in Faith. And despite the humor of the first few chapters she felt a bit lonely.
…
By the time Buffy got back that night Faith had put her book away and was now sharpening her favorite stake by her desk.
"How'd it go?" She asked trying to sound neutral.
Buffy beamed down at her "It was great! We had been planning to go to the pub for drinks originally but we stayed and talked all night at the grotto instead. I've never met a guy who I could talk to so freely!"
"Did you tell him you're a slayer then?"
"I- n-no of course not." Buffy frowned "He would think I'm crazy. Why on earth would I wanna say that?"
"Then what could you talk to him about so freely then?"
"Just... feelings and stuff." she continued to swoon over her new boy toy "He's just so sensitive and strong at the same time. You see, his father died last year but he said that that just made him realize he should enjoy life more whenever he could... He's so smart."
Buffy continued for a while longer about the great philosophies of Parker Abrams.
But the more Faith heard about him the more she was convinced that this Parker kid just loved hearing himself speak.
"B... I don't mean to burst your bubble here but... this Parker sounds like a bit of a smooth talker to me. Maybe you should be careful..."
She had hardly finished her sentence before Buffy snapped at her: "Oh yeah? Well I think you're just jealous because the only person who asked you out is old man Bacchus!"
Faith paled with anger "I just don't want you to get hurt!"
"Yeah right!" Buffy screamed almost hysterically "Like last year? When you couldn't wait to get your paws on Angel!"
"I was never interested in Angel!" Faith bellowed "I just hated him because I am a slayer and he is a fucking vampire!"
"Do you always try to hit on guys you hate?"
"I just wanted him to give me a reason to stake him!"
They paused, breathing hard, looking at each other furiously. This was their first row since they became roommates.
"I trusted you and you wanted to stake my boyfriend?" Buffy said softly narrowing her eyes.
"You? Trust me? You wanted me gone the moment I arrived!" Faith scoffed.
"Only because you were being such a giant slut!"
"I'm not a slut!" Faith said heatedly.
"No... maybe I was wrong... now that you're such a brilliant student after all. Tell me Faith. Is it all just an act to get into Bacchus' giant pants? Cause that would make much more sense to me..." she said with a voice filled with venom.
Faith lost it and charged, pinning an unsuspecting Buffy to the ground and punching her violently in the face. "You just can't handle the fact that I'm better at something for once!"
Buffy laughed madly "You've read some more fairy tales than me! Big deal!" she grabbed Faith's hands to keep her from lashing out again.
She pushed Faith off powerfully and managed to hit her with a punch of her own.
Faith staggered backwards, feeling blood gush from her nose. The pain caused her to feel even angrier than before. She charged forward again just as the door crashed open.
Faith's rush forward was suddenly blocked by an invisible wall and Buffy laughed maliciously as Faith collided with it headfirst and bounded backwards into the floor.
"What the hell is going on here?" Willow asked angrily looking between the two of them. It must've been her magic that had stopped Faith's attack.
"Stay out of it Red!" Faith snarled without taking her eyes of Buffy.
"Yeah Will, I can handle Faith's girly punches perfectly by myself." Buffy said as she licked her split lip.
Willow sighed and closed the door behind her. "What happened?"
"Buffy couldn't handle it when I told her her new boyfriend is a prat."
"And Faith couldn't handle it when I pointed out that she's a slut!"
They continued to stare daggers at each other while Willow looked warily from one to the other by the door.
"Ok. Ok." She said exasperated "Let's sort this out."
"Faith, you can't tell Buffy who she can and can't date..."
"I wasn't" Faith protested "I just told her to be careful!"
"Well don't do that either. Buffy is old enough to make her own mistakes and to deal with the consequences."
"And Buffy..." Buffy who had been looking on smugly as Faith got berated looked up at Willow "I'm disappointed in you... Calling Faith a slut? Not cool. Faith's been a great friend to you these past few weeks and this is no way to thank her."
Buffy looked sufficiently ashamed of herself and mumbled to the floor "You're right. I'm sorry Faith, I didn't really mean it. I was just upset..."
Faith felt her anger subside somewhat. "I'm sorry too B. I shouldn't have said those things about Angel... and Parker." That didn't have to mean she liked the guy though.
They made up with a contended Willow looking on. And Faith was strongly reminded of a kindergarten teacher that had successfully ended a squabble between two small children.
When Willow caught eye of Faith's side of the room however her face fell. "Did that happen because of the fight?".
Faith's part of the room did indeed look as if a bomb had exploded there. Dirty laundry and garbage were scattered all over the floor and covered in a thin layer of shavings from her stake.
"Dr. Will, may I call Faith a slob?"
"You may."
"Faith... you're a slob."
…
The next day was a Sunday, and since they had nothing better to do, Faith and Buffy decided to tidy their room somewhat and do their laundry.
"Yuck! Faith! What is one of your smelly socks doing in my bed?"
"No clue. But thanks for finding it." Faith said as she caught the missing sock.
"You really are unbelievably messy..."
"Tried to warn you." Faith said sounding amused as she tried to stuff more clothes into an already overflowing laundry bag.
They dragged the laundry bags down to the basement, where the washing machines stood, and started taking their clothes out again.
"Wowowow..." She stopped Buffy from putting a bunch of laundry in a machine "B, don't you know you shouldn't put colors with whites?"
"Eh..."
"You haven't ever washed your own clothes before have you?"
Faith helped Buffy sort her laundry while explaining some of the basics.
"and eh... these," She held up a pair of particularly frilly knickers with matching bra feeling a bit flustered "Go with the delicates... Got it?"
"I think so... Does this one go with the delicates too?" She held up what was unmistakeably a lacy thong and Faith couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Oolala Goldilocks, such naughty things in you underwear drawer. Are you going to give me a show later?" she winked naughtily and wiggled her eyebrows.
"You're one to talk." Buffy said eying Faith's much larger pile of naughty undergarments.
"Sharp like a knife you are." Faith said pretending to be impressed.
…
They went back upstairs to clean up some more while they waited for their laundry to finish.
Faith was at her desk putting the final pieces of garbage in a plastic bag and sorting out her books when she heard a girly squee right behind her.
She turned around and saw Buffy standing by her bed. She had thrown back the covers, apparently in an attempt to make up the bed.
Faith's insides went cold as she realized what Buffy must have seen.
"It's so... cuuuute!" Buffy picked Merlin up by his crumpled ears. "I never knew you had a snuggle pall Faith! That's so unexpectedly adorable of you!" she teased.
Faith dropped her books and rushed over "Give that back!" she snarled.
But Buffy jumped over to the other side of the bed and out of Faith's reach "No way. You gave me way too much shit about Mr Gordo and now... it's my turn." She grinned widely.
They danced round the bed while Buffy teased her some more: "So what's its name? Lemme see... Mittens?"
Faith grabbed wildly at Merlin but Buffy dodged again.
"No that's not it... Buttons maybe? Because...because of the little buttons see?" Buffy laughed as she dodged Faith once more.
"He looks homemade, doesn't he?" Buffy observed "Did your mommy make him?"
Faith had to laugh at this. Her mother probably wasn't even be able to sew a button on.
"C'mon Faith, don't be embarrassed. Introduce us." She gasped in a ridiculously overacted way "We could have a tea party together with Mr Gordo!"
"Oh get of it B." Faith stopped trying to get back Merlin and marched of to sit on Buffy's bed facing the wall.
"Aw... Are you sulking Faithy?" She said with a dreadfully sweet voice as she approached.
She dangled Merlin in front of Faith's eyes and whispered in her ear "Do you need a hug?".
Faith snatched Merlin away from her crossly. Buffy chuckled and sat down next to her on the bed.
"I'm figuring out more and more crazy stuff about you aren't I?" Buffy said as she leaned back on her hands looking at Faith. "It was weird enough finding out you're actually really smart... but now you're also being absolutely adorable... one would think dark forces are at work." she finished ominously.
When Faith didn't reply Buffy poked her sides insistently "Tough as nails Faith turns out to be a cute little puppy. Huh? Huh?"
Faith relented, dropped down on the bed and spoke to the ceiling "Alright. I'm not as tough as I appear to be. So what? I can't help that people won't look past the exterior."
"...and straight into the mushy inside." Buffy added looking down at her "So... who's the cat?"
"Merlin. My gran made him for me."
"Same Gran who told you about mermaids and read you Greek myths before bedtime?"
"The very same."
"She sounds charming. Do you still see her often?"
"She died when I was twelve."
"oh... I'm sorry... Do... Do you miss her?"
Faith finally ripped her eyes away from the ceiling and looked straight into Buffy's eyes "I do. She raised me all by herself. So she was like a mother to me."
They stared at each other in silence for what felt like a long time.
It was Buffy who finally broke this silence "W-What happened to your real mother then?"
Faith broke the eye contact again, she didn't really wanna talk about this. "Nothing." She said bluntly "She was just useless, that's all."
Buffy lay down next to Faith, frowning. She seemed to hesitate before she asked: "Where did you go then when your grandmother died?"
"Foster care"
Faith did not elaborate and Buffy didn't dare ask any further. They both lay there in silence, each with their own thoughts.
Faith had never talked about her childhood and what came after with anyone before. The fact that Buffy had listened to her without passing judgment and without prying further than she was allowed made Faith feel even more strongly about her.
She wanted to hug Buffy so badly that her heart ached because of it.