Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Previously:

"So here it goes," Buffy said, taking a deep breath and dropping onto her knee in front of Faith. "I love you so much, more than I've ever loved anybody in my whole life. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you because you make me so happy. Faith, will you marry me?"

...................

"Good point," Kara said as she, Spike, and Dawn reached for the doorknob at the same time. Pushing the door open, they all stumbled inside the room, pausing in shock when they saw Buffy kneeling in front of Faith with a ring in her hand.

The three quickly looked at each other before stating, in unison, "Holy shit."

Chapter Forty-Three:

Pushing Dawn and Spike out of the room, Kara quickly slammed the door shut. "We seriously need to learn to knock," she muttered. Then she dragged the slightly shell shocked and generally amused couple down the hallway.

Once the trio had disappeared, Faith looked back down at Buffy, chuckling to herself. "Our daughter has great timing doesn't she?" She said sarcastically before dropping to her knees as well. "Figured you might be getting lonely down here," she joked as she reached over and plucked the ring out of Buffy's hand. "It's beautiful," she whispered appreciatively. The ring was a sparkling shade of silver that seemed to catch the light and twinkle. In the center, two brilliant blue stones were set.

"Well, so are you," Buffy whispered back, cupping Faith's cheek. Then she laughed. "That was a bit cheesy, wasn't it?" She asked as Faith smiled.

"Yeah...and yeah," Faith said, looking Buffy in the eye, her own eyes shining wet with tears of joy. She had never imagined she would ever find someone to love, nonetheless, someone who would want to spend of the rest of their lives together. Yet, she had.

"Yeah?"

"There's nothing I would ever want more," she said, pulling Buffy into a fierce embrace. Both girls were sniffling and wiping tears away when they pulled apart. Taking the ring, Buffy gently slipped it onto Faith's finger. It fit perfectly.

"I have one too," she said, pulling her own out of her pocket. Faith took it and slipped it onto Buffy's finger, smiling.

"Looks good on ya, B," Faith said, winking. Her eyes caught a devilish light and a mischievous smile tugged at her lips. Running a hand through Buffy's hair, she brushed it away from her ear, leaning in. Her lips stopped a fraction of an inch from Buffy's neck and she whispered into the blonde slayer's ear, her breath tickling Buffy's skin and making her shiver. "And I gotta tell ya, I'd love to see how it looks on ya with nothing else."

......................

"So what was going on?" Kennedy asked as Spike, Dawn, and Kara filed back into the dining room. All three were far more quiet than usual and appeared as if they were going to jump out of their own skins with excitement. Both Joyce and Kennedy glanced over at each other, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Nothing much," Kara said, as they slipped back into their places at the table. Picking up her fork, she shoved a piece of waffle into her mouth to stop herself from blurting out Faith and Buffy's news.

"Nothing much? She yelled pretty loud," Kennedy argued.

"Had to have been something," Joyce added, leaning forward, with her elbows on the table. She eyed Spike, who she knew would crack under any kind of scrutiny. She almost felt bad for the vampire; he seemed to be twitching in his seat, not quite able to sit still. Dawn wasn't fairing much better.

"Spider," Spike suddenly blurted out. Kara glared over at him. Kennedy just laughed.

"A spider? You're telling me Faith yelled like that over a spider? She's a slayer," Kennedy replied.

"Faith is...arachnophobia," Kara said slowly. "She doesn't like for people to know. You know, bad for the rep and all that."

"Yeah," Dawn chimed in. "There was this huge, brown spider in the kitchen the other day. You should have seen her. I thought she was gonna have a coronary."

Joyce and Kennedy sat back in their chairs simultaneously, each crossing their arms. "We don't believe you," Kennedy stated.

Faith and Buffy picked that moment to come down the stairs. "Don't believe what?" Buffy asked, eyeing the breakfast-laden table. "Ooh, waffles."

"That Faith is afraid of spiders," Spike said, staring Faith straight in the eye as he spoke. "You know, how terrified of them you are and all that."

"What?" Faith asked in confusion.

"See, she's trying to deny it," Dawn jumped in.

"I'm not afraid of spiders," Faith said, sitting down at the table.

"It's okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of," Kara said. "I mean, we're all afraid of something."

"Yeah, but I'm not afraid of spiders," Faith reiterated, now thoroughly confused. It suddenly dawned on Buffy what was going on.

"Okay, everybody shut up," Buffy said, taking a seat next to Faith. The room fell silent. "Faith and I have some news. Firstly, Faith and I killed a giant spider demon the other day, so I can pretty much say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Faith is not arachnophobia," Buffy started.

"Wow, that was a big word, Buffy," Dawn teased, not able to restrain herself from a little sister bashing. Buffy simply glared over at her and continued.

"And secondly," she said, looking at Faith and smiling, "Faith and I just got engaged."

.................................

"It's so evil it's absolutely delicious," the First said, under the guise of the fallen goddess Glory. She and Caleb were walking along a ledge on the Hellmouth. Below them, thousands of demons were festering, waiting to be let loose upon the world. "It's almost time."

"The earth shall tremble and quake. The sins of this world shall be purged clean and evil shall rise unto a dawn of chaos," Caleb spoke as he looked out over his army.

"Yeah, something like that," Glory said, laughing. "But more importantly, the slayers won't have a clue what hit them."