Buffy sat outside her window, musing. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't musing on anything in particular, but her thoughts kept flitting back to the events of the past week or so, and, more specifically, to the people involved. Including one tall, dark and oh-so handsome vampire. She remembered the words she threw at him – "I have someone in my life now... that I love. It's not what you and I had…I trust him. I know him." She also remembered his reply – "That's great. It's nice you moved on. I can't. You found someone new. I'm not allowed to, remember? I see you again and it cuts me up inside, and the person I share that with is me. You don't know me anymore…"
The second those words had come out of his mouth, she regretted her actions. She had thrown Riley in his face, not thinking of the consequences. He may have left her so she could have 'sunshine and picnics and children', but she knew it had torn them both apart inside. Seeing him hugging Faith, though, and when he had hit her because of Faith – it hurt, and she had wanted to hurt him back. The truth was, she didn't trust Riley, not the way she trusted Angel. Sure, she trusted Riley with her life – in her line of work, she couldn't afford to not be able to. But she trusted Angel with her heart as well. She knew that no matter how many times Angel may have broken her heart, she still trusted him with it, because of who he was. Her soulmate, whether he admitted it or not. Riley, was sweet, but the incident with Faith had proven that he wasn't 'the one'. Finding out he had slept with Faith, in Buffy's body or not, had hurt. More so because she knew, although she didn't voice these feelings out loud, that Angel would have known the difference.
For months she had been pretending that Riley would grow to fill the hole that Angel had left in her heart. The events with Faith had proved otherwise. Truthfully, that was why she had been so angry with Faith. The fact that she had treated her body like an object didn't bother Buffy – she knew how Faith thought, even envied her from time to time. She knew Faith wouldn't have slept with some random guy in her body – Faith wasn't stupid. She would have taken care of the important things, like getting away from Buffy and her old body and her friends, before having fun. Faith's mantra may have been 'Want. Take. Have.' Or possibly, 'Five by five.' But she was a Slayer, and she followed her instincts. No, Buffy hated Faith because she took something that was pure and safe to Buffy, and exposed it for what it truly was – a pathetic attempt to fill a hole that would never be full again. Buffy's relationship with Riley was a sham, and it had taken her sister Slayer to show Buffy the truth.