Faith was alone in Henry's bar that night, having ditched patrol to get a drink. When she saw Julie there sitting at the far end of the bar nursing a drink of her own, she wasn't surprised in the least. She sat on a stool on the other end of the small bar, trying at all costs to avoid making direct eye contact with Julie. They had shared just a single look when Faith had walked in there almost an hour before and that was that, not a single word or look had passed between them since. With that one look they both established the fact they were not in the mood to talk to anyone else, especially not each other, and Faith was okay with that.

Even inside the bar, it was quiet enough she could still hear the steady beat of the music coming from the club across the street. It made her blood quiver, it made her want to dance and to let go, but for some reason she just wasn't feeling up to going to the club to dance the night away. She'd spent a good part of the day doing nothing but thinking of Buffy and the conversation they'd had. She also spent a good part of the day off by herself, needing the alone time just as much as she needed each breath she took.

Being alone gave her too much time to think, usually with no way to work things out in a logical, rational way, but she felt trapped at times being there at the house surrounded by everyone almost every second of the day. She was beginning to crave a space of her own, possibly even a place of her own. Through the arguing over patrol schedules, Giles told them that they all needed to get at least part-time jobs to help pay the bills before the money he had put aside ran out. It got her thinking of finding herself a job and her own place and soon. It wasn't that she wanted to separate herself from everyone—well it was, but there was more to it than that. She was used to being on her own and doing things her own way.

"Deep thoughts?" Henry asked with a smile as he placed a fresh glass of beer in front of her.

"Just thinking. I need to find a job. Really don't know where to start looking."

"I could offer you a position here in the late afternoons and early evenings a few days a week," Henry said quietly as he looked around the room. "It doesn't get too busy here now that the club across the street is open, but I would still like some help if you are interested."

"What's the pay?"

"Minimum plus tips."

She thought about it for a minute, knowing it'd be better to take his offer just in case she couldn't find anything else that would be as flexible as she knew Henry would be for her. She needed a steady supply of her own cash and here a job was freely being offered to her, no questions asked, from someone who knew what the demands of her life were. She smiled over at Henry as she came to a decision.

"When do I start?"

"Monday at noon."

"Great," she smiled as she raised her glass slowly. "Thanks, Henry."

"So," Henry said softly as he wiped down the counter with the tattered rag that had definitely seen better days, "where are the others tonight?"

"Patrol."

"Where you are supposed to be right now, is that right?"

"Yeah," she laughed and shrugged as she took another sip of her beer. "Is it always so low on activity around here? Cos Giles really believed we'd be coming to a place that would be worse than Sunnydale."

"Not always. In fact I don't think I've seen it like this in all the years I've lived here and I've lived here my entire life. That is a lot of years if you ask me."

Faith laughed as Henry walked away to serve a customer that had just come in. Faith felt it before she even turned to look and see who'd sat down two stools away from her. She waited for Angel to turn to her before she cocked her head to the side and smirked at him.

"Hey," Angel nodded over at her. "For some reason," he said as he moved to sit on the stool next to her, "I knew you'd be in here."

"When did you get here?"

"Just now. Came up for a couple of days. To check in."

"Check in? On us?" Faith laughed as she turned away from him and reached for her now nearly empty glass of beer. "Haven't you heard? This place is a pathetic excuse for a Hellmouth."

"Just because it's like that now doesn't mean it'll stay that way, Faith."

She shrugged, knowing damn well how right he was. For Angel to come there from LA out of nowhere, something was definitely going on. She noticed the way he just looked at her, almost as if he knew something she didn't. She could see the slight surprise in his eyes as he just stared at her.

"What'd ya come here for, Angel?"

"We'll talk outside when you head back out on patrol," he replied as he eyed Henry for a moment. Faith couldn't help but laugh as she quickly downed the rest of her beer. "That's what I thought."

Angel followed her as she exited the bar and began walking down the street. Neither of them spoke on the short walk to the nearest cemetery and Faith headed straight for the first of few benches that were laid out along the path. She sat down and waited for Angel to sit down next to her, both of them cracking their knuckles as he paced for a moment before sitting down on the far end of the wooden bench.

"Anyone else know you're here?" Faith asked him as she took her stake out from her jacket pocket.

"No, and it's going to stay that way for now. How're you holding up out here?"

"Better than expected."

"And...Buffy?"

"Good," Faith replied with a shrug.

"Giles told me about the house," Angel said as he looked around to make sure they were still alone.

"Nice place. Little too fucking cozy if ya ask me," she said quietly as she ran the tip of her stake over her thigh, her mind trying to drift off somewhere else, though she kept fighting it. "It's not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"A little more action around here would be fucking nice."

"Be careful what you wish for," Angel said under his breath. "Are you and Buffy..."

"What?" Faith asked as she turned to look at him.

"Are you two getting along?"

"Finally," Faith replied, trying to keep it as vague as possible. She didn't want to talk to Angel about Buffy no matter what kind of conversation it was. It felt too awkward to have that kind of a conversation with him. "So really, Angel. What the hell are ya doin' all the way up here? Bit out of the way for a weekend trip, isn't it?"

"I'm here on more of a personal business more than anything else."

"Oh, I get it," she said confidently as she stood up from the bench. "You came here cos ya can't stand bein' so far away from Buffy, is that right? Or..." she frowned as she twirled her stake a couple of times, "or ya think I went bad again and killed 'em all in their sleep, right?"

"No."

"No to what?"

"All of what you just said. That's not why I'm here."

"Then why are ya here?"

"Curiosity."

"Don't fuck around, Angel. Why don't ya just tell me why you're here and why the hell ya came to me instead of oh, I don't know, Buffy or Giles?"

"I wanted to talk to you first," Angel replied. "You didn't say much the last time we talked."

"Didn't have much to say."

"Find that hard to believe."

"Look," Faith sighed out as she sat back down on the bench next to him. "Whatever you're here for, just tell me straight up."

"It's about the Hellmouth."

"You were..."

"I wanted to know if you all knew. Apparently not," Angel replied quietly. "It has a barrier around it, yes, but the things I've found out in the last week…there's more to it than just a barrier cast by a powerful witch. When the barrier fades, it's going to get bad."

"How bad?"

"It will make Sunnydale look like just any other normal town. You are going to need help here."

"We got three of us, plus the Scoobies."

"It's not going to be enough."

"Then why come to me, Angel? What the fuck can I do about this?"

"I came to you because I wanted to make sure you were doing okay here first," he replied. "It hasn't been too long since..."

"I know. I'm fine," she snapped. "Dealing with everything in my own way."

"Which is?"

"Not thinking about it? Whatcha want me to say? That there's just too much going on, that there's all these thoughts," she said as she tapped the side of her head, "and some just block out the others? I know what you're gonna say, but I'm dealing with this redemption deal on my own and in my own way. Doing all I can to keep the darkness at bay and try to forgive myself for...giving in."

"It's a long, hard road, Faith."

"I know and I'm just making a little pit stop," she replied with a smirk, hoping to get a little laugh out of Angel. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Angel. Things are different now."

With Angel being back unexpectedly, she was trying not to let the flood of bad memories of the things she'd done come back to her. She knew the whole point of redemption was not to simply force herself to forget all the wrong she'd done before, but she'd had nearly two years in prison to think of those things. Now that she was out and had a second chance in life, the last thing she wanted to think about was who she'd been before. It was too easy just to forget as best as she could and move on, but it wasn't the right way to do it. It was the only way she knew how.

"Let's walk," Angel said, jolting her from her own thoughts. "I won't stay for much longer tonight, Faith. I wanted to check in on you first."

She said nothing as they began to walk down the gravel path through the cemetery. Trying to figure out what really brought Angel there was as useless as asking him. Before they parted ways, he told her he'd be at Henry's the next night to really sit down and talk about the things he knew about the Hellmouth and the barrier spell that had been cast around it. She stood there on the path and watched as he disappeared in the darkness of the night. It was bad that Angel was there and she knew all those nagging gut feelings she'd been having were right. Something was off about everything and their luck was definitely starting to run out, bit by bit.

After doing a rather quick sweep of the cemetery, she headed back to the house. Too many nights with not enough sleep were beginning to take a toll on her body. It didn't matter if she was used to it or not, she still felt the fatigue. By the time she'd gotten back to the house she knew it was barely after midnight. Kennedy was already there sitting on the front porch with an open beer in her hand and one sitting next to her. Faith smiled a little at her as she sat on the steps next to her. She took the offered beer from Kennedy and twisted off the cap, nearly downing the entire bottle in one go.

"Slow night," Kennedy said softly as she looked up at the stars. "Buffy is still out. She told me just to come home."

"I got a job," Faith said listlessly as she stared down at the bottle in her hands. "Working at Henry's bar few afternoons a week. You heard if anyone else found anything yet?"

"Really?" Kennedy asked her and Faith only nodded. "Xander found a job with a contractor. Giles is...a man of leisure, is what he called it."

Faith chuckled as she leaned back on the steps and looked up at the sky. "Pretty sure he's used that term before. Wouldn't put it past him if he has."

"Willow said something about the magic shop a few blocks away. They're looking for clerks. Julie said she'd put in a good word to the owner for her," Kennedy said and she groaned in disgust when she said Julie's name. "I swear to god, Julie is going to make me want to kill her if she gets too friendly with Will."

"She's not gonna fall for Julie, Ken. Don't get so fucking worked up over it."

"She's over at Julie's place right now."

"Doesn't mean anything."

"Sure," Kennedy shrugged. "So what if Julie has a boyfriend. It didn't stop her from hooking up with you. What's gonna stop her from hooking up with Will?"

"Ken, seriously, just fucking drop it. You're getting paranoid over nothing. Buffy told you that Willow isn't like that. Can't ya have a little faith in the woman you're in love with?"

Faith was slightly relieved that Kennedy was unloading her own thoughts and worries on her. There was no way in hell she could talk about Angel. She didn't even want to think about him right then either, so she tried to pay attention to Kennedy's venting as she went on and on with her hate train against Julie. Every so often she'd look down to the street, thinking she felt Buffy nearby, but she was never there. She knew what was happening when it came to Buffy and the constant thoughts she let roam free in her mind. She was becoming infatuated with her and the last time that almost happened, it didn't end well.

This was one reason why she wanted a place of her own. Spending too much time around Buffy was beginning to get to her in the wrong ways. Her self-control would come into question sooner rather than later and it already had once. There was no doubt that it would likely happen again and soon. She scoffed at herself, ignoring the eyebrow that Kennedy raised at her before she continued with her venting. She shouldn't care so much, she knew that, but she did and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to change it either.

Buffy. Buffy. Buffy. Her mind was in a tailspin now and she was in far too deep to try and pull herself out. She barely even noticed when Kennedy took her empty bottle and headed inside to get a few more beers. She felt it again, that buzz, and when she lifted her head she saw Buffy walking up the front path towards her. She smiled, but it quickly faded when she realized Buffy was limping slightly and she had a nasty cut over her left eye. And she wasn't walking. She was trying to run.

"B, you got somethin' after ya?"

"Demon," she panted out breathlessly. "Lost it about a block away. I hope."

"How big?"

"Big."

"We need weapons," Faith said as she got up and helped Buffy up the stairs into the house. "Was just one, right?"

"Far as I know," Buffy nodded as Faith helped her over to the couch where she sat down.

Faith gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead before she went to the front closet and pulled back the panel. She pulled out a couple of axes and as soon as Kennedy came out of the kitchen, she handed one to her. Kennedy asked not a single question as she followed Faith outside. She only mouthed 'demon or vamp' and Faith just pointed to the nasty looking demon now walking up to the house.

"Stay back," Faith said softly to her. "I'll take care of this fucker."

"Faith..."

"Ken, just stay the fuck back. Come in swinging when I tell you to. Just don't fucking aim that at my head, okay?"

The demon stopped in its tracks halfway up the front path as Faith strode over to him gripping onto the handle of the axe tightly. She'd seen this type before. It was the same kind of demon they'd run into before during that first patrol. It was wounded pretty badly, but she knew better than to think it'd be an easy fight. The demon growled at her as she kicked it back, watching in amusement as it tumbled backwards a few steps. She wasted no time in advancing on it, swinging the axe with all she had and aimed straight at its neck. It growled again more angrily as it avoided the axe by mere inches.

"Ken," she said as she motioned to Kennedy to come down from the front porch. "Take the left. Ain't gonna be a quick fight."

"How do we kill it?"

"Snap the neck or take its fucking ugly ass head off. Only way," she said as she pointed to Buffy's stake deeply imbedded into its chest. A surge of anger and adrenaline coursed through her veins and she charged forward, kicking the demon square in the torso and sending it flying back towards the road.

Kennedy reached it before she did, swinging the axe almost blindly as the demon got back onto its feet. Faith was seconds behind her and she pushed Kennedy out of the way as she swung the axe at the demon's neck once again, feeling a flood of relief as she felt the axe pierce through its tough skin. It wasn't nearly deep enough to decapitate the demon, though, and she growled in frustration as the demon threw a punch to her stomach that sent her flying backwards. She landed hard on the grass, blinking away the tears that sprang to her eyes with the pain of the blow just in time to see Kennedy flying towards her.

"Motherfucker," Kennedy winced out as she grabbed her side. "How the hell isn't it dead yet?"

"Don't know," Faith said under her breath as she picked herself up from the ground. "Its gonna be dead in a minute."

She felt no pain as she launched a flurry of punches and kicks against the demon and with a burst of energy she knew was still in her, she dropped the axe, grabbed onto its head and snapped it as hard as she could. The demon slumped to the ground as she stumbled back. She was breathing heavily as she bent down to pick the axe up from the ground and took one hard swing, finally decapitating the demon's head to ensure it would stay dead.

"Fuck. Ken, come give me a hand," she groaned as she motioned for Kennedy to help her get the demon off the front lawn.

They made it as far as the bushes that separated the front lawn from the neighbours, where they rolled it under the prickly thorn bushes and quickly tossed their weapons as two police cruisers drove past the house slowly. As soon as they were out of sight, Faith grabbed the weapons and headed inside with Kennedy right behind her.

Buffy was lying on the couch with Giles trying to clean her head wound for her. Faith put the weapons back where they belonged and joined the two of them in the living room. She looked over at Buffy as Giles left to get some bandages and she noticed the blood oozing through the dark denim jeans the blonde wore. Faith slowly moved over to her, kneeling down on the floor next to the couch as she carefully rolled Buffy to one side a little. She saw the jeans where there was a clean rip and the wound under it.

"Fuck, you're really hurt, B."

"Just a...scratch."

Faith shook her head as she ripped the jeans a little more and carefully moved the blood drenched material away from the deep wound. "Just a scratch, B? You're gonna need stitches."

Buffy sighed out, holding back the gasp of pain the best she could as Faith placed her hands over the wound and tried to stop the bleeding. The couch cushion was soaked with her blood and Faith tried not to panic as she watched the blood continue to flow out and around her fingers.

"Giles!" Faith called out, the worry heavy in her voice as Buffy went limp. "Fuck, B. Keep your damn eyes open, will ya?"

"What seems to be..." Giles trailed off as he came back into the living room and looked rather overwhelmed at the amount of blood coming out of the side of Buffy's left thigh. "Kennedy, run upstairs and get the kit out of the bathroom. Quickly."

"She's losing a lot of blood," Faith said quietly as she kept as much pressure on the wound as she could.

"Vampire or demon?"

"Demon. Like the ones we ran into the first night we went out on patrol. I took care of it. It's layin' dead in the bushes at the side of the yard."

"What kind of demon?"

"Fuck if I know, G. It was a demon and now it's dead. What more do ya fuckin' want?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Not badly," she responded as calmly as she could as Kennedy came down the stairs carrying the first aid kit.

"Hold her down. I need to quickly stitch the wound before she loses any more blood," Giles said under his breath as he pulled out the pre-packaged sterilized needle and thread. He quickly stitched the deep gash in her leg and not once did she flinch, make a sound, or open her eyes. "Faith, would you take her up to her room? She'll rest better in her own bed."

Faith only nodded her head as she carefully picked Buffy up from the couch. She ignored the pain shooting through her body as she carried Buffy slowly up the stairs and to her room. Buffy was breathing heavily and steadily, but she still hadn't opened her eyes or said a word. She laid her down on the bed and got her boots off, not once looking away from Buffy's face as she waited for her to wake up.

"You should get her out of those clothes," Kennedy said as she appeared in the doorway. "Make her more comfortable. No way is sleeping in clothes that are covered with dirt and mud comfortable."

"Find something for her to wear," Faith said quietly as she tried to unbutton Buffy's jeans. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably and she was nearly holding her breath as she gently and slowly slid Buffy's jeans off.

"This okay?" Kennedy asked as she held up a pair of sweatpants Buffy had cut into shorts and a black t-shirt. "Faith?"

"It's fine."

Kennedy tossed them at her and walked over to the doorway. Faith waited for her to leave and shut the door behind her before she carefully pulled the shorts up Buffy's legs. She kept waiting for her to wake up, not wanting to have to do this while she was passed out. With her hands shaking as badly as they were, she decided just to leave Buffy in the shirt she wore and she picked up her tattered, bloody jeans and tossed them in the small trashcan by the desk.

"Faith?" Buffy groaned softly as she sat up on the bed. "Where are you going?"

"To wash up," she replied as she looked down at her bloody hands and clothes. "Do ya want me to get you anything?"

"Anything to take away the dull throbbing in my head would be nice."

"Be back in a sec, B."

Faith walked out of her room, closing the door behind her before she walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Kennedy was already in there washing her own bloody hands.

"Demon blood," she said to Faith as she moved away from the sink. "Xander and Giles are down there burying the bastard in the backyard now. Buffy wake up yet?"

"Yeah. There any painkillers around here?"

Kennedy opened the medicine cabinet and pointed to an unlabelled bottle of pills. Faith quickly washed her hands of Buffy's blood and grabbed the bottle off the shelf. She stood there for a moment, trying to still her shaking hands and staring down at the bottle as she placed it on the edge of the sink. She flinched as Kennedy reached for her hands and forced her to look at her.

"You okay, Faith?"

She wasn't okay. Seeing the blood run with the water down the sink brought back the things she didn't want there in her mind. Not now. Not ever. She pulled her hands out of the ironclad grip Kennedy had them in and grabbed the bottle of painkillers off the sink. She glared at Kennedy, clenching her teeth as she silently warned her to back off. Grabbing the cup off the back of the sink, she filled it up before she walked out of there and headed straight back to Buffy's room.

She stopped at the door and closed her eyes, seeing flashes of that night in the alley when she stabbed Alan Finch with her stake. She saw flashes of the professor, the helpless look on his face as she gutted him, the anguish and pain he went through in those last moments before he took his final breath. The white hot anger she'd felt in the moments after, the overwhelming power she felt with taking another's life, lingered there in her memories. She'd spent too many nights lying in her cell in prison thinking of those moments. Far too many nights to count off the top of her head.

It took a lot to pull herself out of it, to find the edges of reality that burned at the edges of those memories. She always feared opening her eyes when she was in the midst of these flashbacks. Feared that she would open her eyes and her life would still be as it was then and not the way it was now. After taking a few deep, steady breaths, she forced her eyes open and then nudged Buffy's bedroom door, swinging it slowly open.

"Found some," Faith said, forcing a smile as she kicked the door shut and made her way to the bed.

"Thanks."

"Scared me for a minute there when ya passed out."

"Too much pain, too much blood loss, I guess," Buffy shrugged as she opened the pill bottle and took two of the small white pills out. "I was on my way home when it charged at me out of nowhere. I didn't see the sword it had until it was too late."

"S'okay, B. At least it didn't chop your fucking leg off. I took care of it. Fucker's dead now."

"Are you okay?"

"Bruised," she shrugged. "Nothin' that won't feel better by morning. Get some sleep, B."

"Feeling kind of wired right now, which is strange," Buffy chuckled softly as she reached for the glass of water Faith still held with both hands. "Aside from the demon that followed me home like a lost little puppy, how was patrol for you?"

"Slow."

"You went to Henry's for a drink, didn't you?"

"No," Faith smirked. "Yeah I did and he offered me a job."

"Oh great. I'm going to be the last one to find something—and watch, I'll end up working at some fast food place again. There's no way in hell I'm doing that again."

"It's a pretty big city, B. Bet there's some shops hiring. Plus," Faith chuckled as she shifted slightly on the edge of the bed to face her more fully, "think of the discounts you'd get working at some clothing store or some shit."

"Did something happen while you were on patrol tonight?"

"Told ya it was slow."

"You're lying."

"Not lying, B."

Buffy kicked her with her good leg and raised an eyebrow, almost scolding her with the glare she gave her. Faith just looked down at her clothes, covered in a mix of demon blood and Buffy blood. She stood up, grabbing the bottle of pills and the half glass of water and headed for the door. She said nothing as she motioned to the light switch, flipping it off after Buffy just nodded her head yes.

"Faith?"

"What, B?"

"You know you don't have to lie to me, right?"

"Told ya I wasn't," she replied softly as she stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "Shit."

After a quick change of clothes she went downstairs and joined Giles and Xander in the living room for a beer. The couch Buffy had been on was gone from the room and she only shrugged as she took a seat in the other chair in front of the window and took the offered beer from Xander as he sat on the floor next to the chair. Giles got up from his chair, walked over to the bookshelf, and pulled out a bottle of Scotch.

"Nice," Faith laughed as he placed it on the table in between the chairs and went to the kitchen to get three glasses. "Heard ya landed a job, Xand."

"Yeah. Start on Monday. Was thinking of getting my own place, too, you know as soon as I save up some cash. Not that I don't love living here with everyone, but sometimes you just need a place of your own, you know what I mean?"

"Thought of doing the same. Henry offered me a job tonight. Ain't much," she shrugged and took a few sips of her beer. As much as she wanted to have a conversation with him, she felt numb all over.

Giles came back from the kitchen then, mumbling under his breath how it was becoming too much with everyone at the house. Faith only rolled her eyes and nodded her head in agreement as Giles put the ice-laden glasses down on the table and poured them each a decent glass of Scotch.

"What's going on in there?" Xander asked as he took his glass. Rather than take a sip, he placed it on the floor next to him and waited for Giles to answer. "Giles?"

"Willow and Kennedy," he replied, looking bored as he sat in his chair and sipped his drink. "Arguing once again."

Faith looked down at Xander as they both shrugged their shoulders and tried not to listen to the faint voices coming from the kitchen as Kennedy and Willow fought to keep their voices low. She wasn't sure if everything was jolted for her because of Angel showing up, or if everything was just starting to lift this veil, but she could see there was something definitely happening. Something that was trying to pull them all apart.

She left her drink on the table, taking her beer with her as she headed out to the front porch. Even under the soft yellow glow of the streetlights, she could see the demon blood over the front lawn. It made her cringe, it made her angry, and it made her wonder what else was going to happen over the course of the night. She'd stopped thinking too much of the days ahead, choosing to live in the now, not necessarily living a seize the day kind of life, though. Kennedy stormed out the front door a few minutes later, looking absolutely furious as she tried not to slam the door behind her.

"What the hell is going on around here?" Kennedy said under her breath as the tears began to fall.

"Wondered that myself."

"You do see what's going on, don't you, Faith?"

She nodded as she sat down on the front steps next to Kennedy. She knew now that Angel had come for something that he was keeping from her for a reason. She'd find out tomorrow night, or at least she was hoping for that. Pushing those thoughts as far as she could from her mind, she turned to Kennedy, not quite sure what to say or do to calm her down.

"Want me to go grab ya a beer?" Faith asked, unable to think of anything else to say. "Ken?"

"No," Kennedy said as she shook her head. "No. I just need to sit here for a little while and cool off."

"You want me to leave ya alone?"

"No," she said as she quickly wiped away her tears. "I'm just...getting worked up over nothing. This Julie thing is bothering me. You didn't see the way they were...talking to each other."

"You ever think that's all it was, Ken? What, just cos Julie is a witch you think Willow is gonna ditch you for her? Are ya stupid or something?" Faith asked, laughing softly when Kennedy only looked at her completely confused. "Willow is in love with you, you idiot. You should see the way she looks at you sometimes."

"I heard her tell Buffy that Julie reminds her of Tara. Probably better not to talk about it anymore," Kennedy sighed. "Everything is turning to shit, 'cept for when it comes to you."

Rather than prolong the argument by trying to explain herself, Faith kept quiet, only shrugging as she leaned back on the steps and looked up at the stars above. They sat there in comfortable silence for the longest time before Kennedy got up and went inside without so much as saying goodnight. Faith stayed out there alone and even as exhausted as she felt, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she shut out the thoughts running through her mind.

By the time the sun rose hours later, Faith was still sitting out there on the front steps staring up at the sky. She couldn't stop the parade of thoughts; she couldn't even quiet them just a little. The paperboy narrowly missed her as he tossed the Sunday paper on the front porch, but she didn't flinch nor did she even look at him. She just stood up from the steps, picked up the paper, and went inside. She put the paper on the table in the kitchen and nodded over at Giles as she walked to the coffeemaker and waited for the last little bit to brew.

She made herself a cup of coffee and poured one for Buffy, then walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs slowly, listening as the others in the house woke up and began to start their day. She opened Buffy's door slowly, not bothering to knock first, and she found it hard to keep the smile off of her face as Buffy sat up in bed and smiled right back at her. Buffy took her mug from her and reached out to pull her down for a soft, lingering kiss. Faith pulled back after a few moments, chuckling softly as she sat on the edge of the bed. It was hard to believe how right this moment felt for her, how real it felt.

They sat there in complete silence, both of them smiling whenever their eyes met. Faith couldn't figure out why she was feeling the way she was, as if she was nothing more than a teenager with a hardcore crush or infatuation. No matter how things were going at that moment, she felt lost in her own little world, in her own little space there with Buffy. It made her forget everything she'd spent all night thinking about and it made her forget about everything but what was right there in front of her.