Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Previously:

Spike nodded and left, eager despite himself. Giles took in the tired looking girl sitting across from him and smiled warmly. "Go get some rest. There's nothing more we can do tonight," he said. Kara smiled gratefully in return. Rising to her feet, she quickly stretched and walked out into the main room of the Magic Box.

Chapter Thirteen:

The late morning sun was shining down on Faith, warming her face as she stood in the backyard of Buffy's house stretching her legs. Several weeks had passed since Buffy and Joyce invited her to live with them. While she immensely enjoyed the company of the three Summers women, she was pleased to find that during the day, she mostly had the house to herself. Though Kara and Callum had been sad about her moving out, they quickly found a new roommate in Spike, who jumped at the opportunity of living in a real house instead of a leaky crypt.

Dawn was slowly coming around, beginning to ask questions about the power she bore inside and eager to learn more about what she could do with it. Faith imagined that though it came as a shock to her, Dawn was happy to join the ranks of the supernaturally inclined, if only so that she would never feel left out. The four women had found a comfortable routine together. Faith, though never quite a morning person, did rise earlier than the rest of the house, and had breakfast waiting for them in the kitchen every morning. While Buffy, Joyce, and Dawn had been shocked the first morning, they were quickly learning that there was far more than met the eye when it came to Faith.

Things were beginning to happen on the Glory front and each day that passed, Faith noticed Kara looking more and more stressed out. Buffy and Faith's first fight with Glory hadn't gone so well, though Faith had been prepared for that result. Buffy was still optimistic, despite Kara's warnings, that she and Faith could take on Glory. An ass kicking and one dead monk later, Buffy realized that she had far underestimated her ditzy opponent. Faith could tell her sister slayer was bummed about losing so badly, but wasn't quite sure how to reassure her.

Faith often got frustrated with herself for how little she knew of the dynamics of friendship. When things were good, she knew exactly how to act. But when things started to take a turn for the worse, Faith had no idea how to cheer anyone up. Though her attempts were fumbled at best, Faith could tell Buffy appreciated her effort. While Willow still refused to acknowledge her, Faith found herself getting along exceedingly well with Spike, Tara, and Xander. Though she liked Anya, the ex-vengeance demon was sometimes a bit much for her to handle.

Heeding Faith's casual advice, Joyce had visited a doctor. She hadn't told Buffy or Dawn yet about the brain tumor the doctors discovered, but she had told Faith, trusting her to keep the secret. She was scheduled to go in for surgery the next week and had been planning on telling Buffy and Dawn that night after dinner. Kara had been exceedingly relieved when Faith told her about Joyce's progress. Under Kara's theory, which Faith desperately hoped succeeded, if Joyce had the tumor removed earlier than before, the chances of her having another aneurysm would be significantly lessened. With Faith around the house during the day, Kara was confident if anything did happen, they would catch it in time.

Sighing, Faith lowered herself to the ground, stretching her legs out in front of her and reaching for her toes, which she easily captured. Closing her eyes, she let the sun burrow deep inside her skin, warming her from the inside out. Though the passed few weeks had been some of the best of her life, Faith couldn't stop the lingering sadness living in her eyes from rearing up. She had met Buffy's current boyfriend, Riley, or "farm boy" as she liked to call him, and instantly developed a dislike for the corn fed Iowa boy. While mostly her dislike emanated from the intense feelings of jealousy she had whenever she saw the two of them together, she also had a general bad feeling about him.

Faith laid back on the grass, stretching her legs out in front of her. The grass was cool on her skin, wrapping her in a gentle embrace. She could feel herself slowly succumbing to the lore of sleep when a shadow blocked out the sun. Grumbling slightly, she opened her eyes to see Buffy standing over top of her with an amused expression on her face. "What?" Faith asked, sitting up.

"Oh, nothing. Just didn't think 'laying out in the grass' and 'Faith' went together," Buffy said playfully. Faith smirked.

"Well, you weren't supposed to be home," she answered. "And not that I mind, but why are you home?" Faith still couldn't believe that she, the girl who had lived out of motels for a greater part of her life, was using the word home in a sentence referring to her own.

"Class let out early. Figured I'd drop by and see what my favorite slayer is up to," Buffy replied, joining Faith on the ground.

"Favorite slayer, huh? Too bad I'm the only other slayer you know," Faith teased. Buffy smiled, though weakly. Faith watched her for a moment. Buffy seemed nervous, twisting her hands around in her lap and looking anywhere but at Faith. "Okay, what's the what? You look like you're gonna have a stroke," Faith said playfully, though inside she was starting to panic. What if Buffy wanted her to leave?

Buffy instantly saw the fear spring up in Faith's eyes, before the dark slayer was able to suppress it, and smiled reassuringly. "I just wanted to talk to you about something is all," she said, not quite sure how to begin. She had spent most of the passed several weeks dancing around the mounting attraction she felt for her counterpart. Shooting through denial and breezing her way into unrequited, obsessive desire, Buffy had finally admitted to herself that she was indeed in love with the former rogue slayer. However, she had absolutely no idea how Faith felt about her.

In all of her stories about her various sexual exploits, Faith had never mentioned being involved with a woman, which led Buffy back to her most basest concern: she had never been involved with a woman either. She wasn't concerned about the social implications of loving another woman so much as her own insecurities. Though she knew her friends might have an adverse reaction to any sort of romantic relationship she and Faith could have, she didn't really care. She knew her mom, Dawn, and Giles would accept it, and that was all that mattered to her.

Of course, the big question was finding out how Faith felt about her. Gazing over at the dark slayer, Buffy took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge. "So...I have this problem," Buffy started.

Faith suddenly looked panicky, but for an entirely different reason. She had just been contemplating her inadequacies at consoling people or offering advice and now Buffy was going expect some sort of intelligent response. "Not that I don't appreciate you comin' to me, B, but wouldn't Red be better for this?"

Buffy smiled. "No, not really," she said, laughing slightly.

Faith was a bit confused, but shrugged. "Alright."

"See, this problem I have...is that I have these feelings for this person, but I'm not sure if this person feels anything for me," Buffy said, not quite sure if she was going about this the right way.

Well at least she's not really in love with Farm Boy, Faith thought to herself with a sigh. "So, who is it?" Faith asked, honestly curious.

Buffy paused for a moment, her mouth suddenly drier than a desert. "You."

Note: I couldn't help but leave it at a cliffhanger, though I'm sure you can figure out how this will turn out on your own. Just seemed like the perfect time to end the chapter. Anyway, many thanks for the reviews and keep 'em coming.