Title: Maybe, Just Maybe
Disclaimer: Please don't; purely for entertainment, creators of 'Buffy'. The characters I created are mine. So steal my idea, or 'borrow' without my permission, and I will be the one to sue.
Pairings:Buffy/Faith
Note:Around Season 3, before 'Bad Girls,' and just so you know, I'm rough on my viewings of S3 so if I get things wrong please let me know. Still not sure if 'Bad Girls' will happen. Not sure yet. We'll see as it unfolds.
Feedback: Always, Thank You =)
Rating: R

Special Note: Thanks for being so open-minded about the last chapter, but I wasn't gonna tell anyone how it ended up in fear of well..this! So read on and see what happens, and I assure you, you will not be disappointed. You will all go 'ohhhhh.' LOL. Thanks for reading.


Chapter 7

'So how come you didn't show?' Willow asked as she twiddled her pencil between her fingers. She watched it, waiting for my reply.

I wasn't even listening. All I could see in my mind was them…together…and me…they didn't even notice me. I wasn't that far away.

'Buffy?' she asked, looking up at me. I was sitting at the desk beside her, head in my hands, elbow on the desk. 'Are you there?' she whispered gently, and reached a hand out to touch my arm a little. I looked down at it, then up at her.

'Sorry?' I said, trying to sound perky, though failing badly.

'I just…wondered about last night…patrol, how come you didn't come?'

I looked into her eyes for a moment, as if I hadn't realised she'd finished asking her question. She craned her neck towards me and raised her eyebrows as if to say "Hello?"

'Oh…erm…' I frowned a little, and looked down at the pencil between her fingers…in that same hand that- 'I-I wasn't feeling too great. I…had…' I paused, trailed off. 'A…thing.'

Willow nodded slightly, searching me as if I wasn't telling the truth. 'Has it gone now?'

I nodded. 'Sure.' I looked immediately down into my books, which were all closed…then out of the window. I couldn't face her right now. Knowing that they…my best friend and Faith. Anyone but Will, I would have been able to handle. But this.

Willow nodded once again and pressed her lips together. 'We ended up not going, cos we thought, why bother, if you didn't wanna come, and…like…my first proper patrolling we figured maybe it would be best if we were all there, like…all three of us.'

I hadn't listened to any of what she'd just said. It was only when she tapped me on the shoulder again that I turned to look at her, my face blank, hers, confused. 'Are you okay, Buffy? You don't seem too…normal, for you. Today.' She took a breath. I hadn't expected to say anything so I didn't mind when she continued. 'Is it the dream? It seemed pretty nasty, I mean…re-occurring, nasty hole-in-stomach-ness doesn't seem too attractive or…appealing…' She thought for a second and I continued to watch her. 'Is it not that? Is it me?'

I shook my head. 'Er, no, it's not you, Will. It's me.' The bell rung and I picked up my books.

Willow did the same and we both got up and exited the room. 'I'm gonna meet Faith now, are you gonna come? We're just going for lunch.'

I thought for a moment. I used to go with Faith to lunch everyday. 'Maybe,' I said as I offered a small smile. I guess it was too late to say "no" anyways, cos she had surprised us from behind…well, Willow, and grabbed her waist. She jumped and turned round, and they both laughed. I chewed on the inside of my mouth a little as I looked ahead at the moving bodies filling the corridors.

'That was most probably the most boring morning of my life,' she started as we resumed walking. 'You know what I did?'

'Nuh uh, what?' Will asked gently as Faith walked on the side other side her, Will in the middle, me on the other side.

'I couldn't sleep thinkin' about…stuff, so I was all walkin' around thinkin' of things to do, and I went back to the library and started reading about this demon-thing. I wished I hadn't cos I asked G this ONE question and he went on for HOURS, I seriously didn't think he'd ever stop. The only time he DID stop, it was to clean his glasses.'

Will laughed a little and we stopped as we reached our lockers. I dumped my stuff in and waited for Willow to as well, whilst Faith pulled her hair out and then pulled it back into a neater ponytail. 'Well you know Giles, he loves his material.'

She closed her locker and sighed. 'You wanna come, Buffy?' Faith looked at me like I was the new girl and my eyes darted between the two.

'Actually…I…better, go see Giles and see if he know anything about the…dream…thing,' I said pretty quickly and before I knew it I had turned my back on the two and headed in the opposite direction.

Faith raised her eyebrows and Will shrugged. 'She's been acting a little weird today. I think it's the dream. Spooked her out.'

- - -

I lied to them but most of me didn't care. I just had to get away from both of them. Even Giles. Away from this, stupid school. I broke into a semi-jog as I exited the school gates. Back to my house. Away from all of them. I just had to get away.

It was eating me alive. This feeling, that I had. For Faith. I didn't realise how jealous I would've been if she had been with someone else. Willow in particular. But it hurt. And it hurt more than any pain I'd ever experienced. My heart was aching.

That night, me and her and the box of chocolates were a big fat joke to her. Maybe she wanted to make me want her even more so she could laugh at me behind my back at how pathetic I was. Probably.

And now Willow. She was having it off with my best friend. I still had that morning playing over and over through my mind.

I burst through my front door and hurried upstairs, into my bedroom. I slammed my door shut behind me and went to my bed. By now my mascara had left long lines of black moisture along the length of my face. I lay down on the comforter and cried into the pillow underneath my stupid head.

- - -

'I really don't know, she just said it was her,' Will said as they strolled along the road.

Faith moved her hands into her pockets and sighed. 'She's hardly said two words to me today,' she said thoughtfully. She actually sounded hurt.

'Oh, right.' They walked for a moment in silence. 'Come to think of it…do you remember, that morning, we trained?'

- - -

As I walked down each wooden, dilapidated step, I felt as if I truly was letting it take the weight of myself upon it, everything I had, every strength, every bit of power I thought I might possess. The scuff of my shoes was apparent on the concrete floor, and as I thought I might be listening to that, I didn't. Instead I listened to every little bit of my conscience. My pounding heart. My heavy but somehow immaculately silent breathing. The tears cries from behind my eyes just dying to escape through the tiny little gateways of my eyes.

As I walked to what I approximated as the middle of the floor, I lifted the thin long piece of material and wrapped around my pre-dominant sense of sight. I firmly created a knot at the middle of the back of my head, letting my lips depart a little, letting my breathing become heard.

I let my arms fall to my sides, and I swallowed. Then inhaled. Long, and slow. I was the only essence in the room right now. Just me. Me, my conscience…and my power.

I inhaled, long and slow, and raised my arm into a first position of…one of many routines and training procedures I had practiced. Though I had decided to attempt to do something of my own. Move through my own instincts and respond to whatever instinctive feelings I had experienced.

Although something was…strange. Unfamiliar. In that…I believed I was alone in the room. I couldn't hear breathing, or movement. I could just sense.

Her.

I blocked what I thought was an arm from hitting my face immediately, and the only reason I moved my arm was because my instincts told me to block my face. The arm never came into contact with me, but I could sense it.

It was hers.

The palm of her hand soon collaborated with my stomach and I moved back slightly…I pulled the material off my eyes and scoffed. 'Alright, enou-'

There was nothing there.

But I swear I didn't imagine that hand.

I paced the room a moment, looking around every corner, up the stairs, at the window. No sign of anyone.

I sighed and replaced the blindfold over my eyes, began again. Except…this time…I could feel that energy, more than before. Connecting with me at this time.

I decided not to go against it, just…work with my instincts. And it was amazing.

I extended an arm in front of me, with my hand outstretched, as if to hit whatever energy was before me. I felt something block it. I hooked my free hand down, round in front of my body and up, and I think the energy was hit…as if it would have been, in the chin. I took a few steps forward, containing a blocking stance, before realising I had lost it's closeness.

I turned my head to the side, as if I was looking over my shoulder, and outstretched an arm sideways, as if to hit the energy in the stomach, followed by a punch with my right arm, coming round my body, to where my left arm had previously been.

There was nothing there, but this energy. And although there was no real being there, I believed this energy was her.

It was as if we were training before. Just…an added element I had decided might make it a little more interesting. I moved back a step, before turning and arching my leg up into an outer crescent kick.

It all happened in what seemed as if it was slow motion.

The energy made a sound. I tore the blindfold off and looked around the room. 'Alright, what's…?' I know I gave off a confused expression, I could feel it. It's what I was. Confused. I couldn't understand what the hell had just happened.

I took a deep breath, and put the blindfold back on. I resumed a "first position" and forced a forward punch in front of me, followed by a sideways hook with my left hand. I turned on my left heel and forced out a middle kick, letting out a small grunt at the lack of contact forcing my weight forwards. Normally I would be able to keep that weight between my feet and move back into the previous position.

I wasn't focussing enough.

I resumed a blocking stance and inhaled deeply.

Then I heard it. Footsteps…scuffling…the breathing…I started to sense…her presence. Her real…presence.

I listened, just standing. Waiting.

Then I heard a voice. Her voice. 'Now you can't see me…I can't see you…let's do this.' It was raspy as it always was. As if she'd just had a cigarette in her mouth. I didn't mind but I'm sure her voice wasn't naturally that way.

I didn't believe that she was as blindfolded as me. But I inhaled and began anyway. And it was as perfect as I had imagined, behind the blindfold, behind my eyelids…in my imagination.

Just us. Fighting using four senses, not five. Not sight. It wasn't needed.

Sound. Her breathing, her movements, I could hear them from the direction they came from. Even if the diverse sounds were less than inches apart.

I had to be cautious.

Touch. Each time she hit me, or I hit her, I could just know, what was coming next. As if I knew the future of every muscle movement. Everything that would be coming next.

Taste. I could taste her skill. With every inch of my very own pink tongue. It didn't matter that I couldn't see her. I could taste this talent.

Smell…I could smell everything she had planned. All of it.

And yet we fought. It must've been, ten…fifteen minutes of falling, of hurting of hitting of screaming. Perhaps the way I wanted her was finally getting to her.

Finally I slapped her, backhanded her with my right hand, and I jumped back, tore the blindfold off my eyes and hurried to her. 'Faith, no…I didn't…'

She was just as I imagined. Very nearly face down on the ground, only her hands supporting her as her feet gave from the intense push of my action.

And she had a blindfold. Although now it was in her floored hand.

I took her hand in mine, that had moved to grasp the spot of pain. 'It wasn't about fighting,' I whispered, my hand upon hers, that was upon her red cheek.

At first she was just panting. Catching her breath, looking over at that little thing over there on the ground. I didn't know what. Then her eyes gravitated to mine. That's right. Gravitated. My gaze upon her made her look at me.

'Who said it was?' she said through many breaths, her forehead ever so slightly creased.

'No…I don't mean that…' She moved into a more comfortable position, crouching down as to get all her weight off her other hand.

'Then, what? You can't physically push me away so you do it mentally instead?'

My eyes opened wider. 'What? Push you away? I don't understa-'

'Why don't you want me?' she said, her voice sounding as if it were about to crack…as if…I…had hurt her.