The Quickening

Previously:

"So, you going to the dance?" Xander asked as they walked. He was expecting a negative reply, as Faith didn't really seem like the dance type.

"Yeah," Faith said shrugging absently. "Figured I'd go, see how you all party out here in Cali."

Chapter Eleven:

Faith sat by the bar at the Bronze waiting for Buffy to show up. Thus far, she hadn't seen anyone she knew, save Scott Hope and his latest bimbo. She had never had any wonderful experiences with guys, but she knew that Buffy had been hoping for more out of her relationship with Scott than to be ditched at the first sign of trouble. Faith had half a mind to go over to him and screw up his night. Smiling suddenly, she threw back the rest of her shot; courtesy of the fake ID she still had from Boston.

Rising from her chair, she sauntered over to Scott and his date. She reached out and quickly tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, good news," she said, smiling widely. "The doctor says that the itching and swelling and burning should clear up real soon," Faith said, gesturing wildly. "But we gotta keep using the ointment." Faith smiled as Scott looked nervously over at his date, who had turned quite pale. "See ya," she finished with a wink and then sauntered back over to the bar.

"You just totally ruined his night," Xander said, appearing next to her out of the crowd.

"Well, that was the point," Faith said. "Want a drink?"

"I'm kinda underage and all," Xander replied.

"Hasn't stopped me before," Faith responded as she ordered two more shots from the bartender. "Live a little, X."

Xander smirked and took the drink. Faith raised the glass to her mouth and tipped it back, letting the liquid slide down her throat. Then she set the glass back down on the bar and smiled, raising her eyebrow at Xander. Xander raised the glass to his lips and tipped it back as well. Faith had to stifle her laughter when his face turned bright red. "What is that?" He asked, grimacing, sputtering slightly.

"It's a little friend I like to call Jack Daniels," Faith replied. "It's not for everyone."

"Obviously," Xander said. "So, where's your date?"

"Where's yours?" Faith retorted. Thus far, Buffy and Cordelia hadn't shown up for the dance.

"Good question. So, it seems that at this particular point in time, we're both dateless," Xander pointed out significantly.

"It would appear so," Faith replied nonchalantly.

"Wanna dance?" Xander suddenly blurted out. Faith looked over at him.

"It's a slow song," she stated.

"Right. So I guess that's a no, which is cool," Xander rambled. For some reason quite unknown to her, Faith suddenly felt bad about turning him down. After all, she had come to the dance mostly just to see him. Yet, here she was making him feel like an idiot for thinking that she was into him. Faith frowned, knowing that she had just nailed the ultimate question. Was she into him? Physically, Xander was attractive in a goofy, stumbling kind of way. Faith could tell that he was a good friend to the people he cared about, but she had never wanted to be anything more than a one-night stand to most guys she met. However, when she looked at Xander, she knew she wouldn't want just a one-night stand with him and that thought scared her.

For the majority of her life, she had been forced to depend on herself for everything. Her mother had never cared enough to prepare meals for her or make sure she got to school on time. Faith did everything for herself. The idea of having a relationship with someone meant dependency to Faith. Though she vaguely liked the idea of not having to be the strong one all of the time, she didn't want to give up control of her life. But as she looked at Xander's face fall when she all but said no, she suddenly felt the desire to comfort him, which was completely alien to her nature.

"What the hell," she muttered to herself. "So, slow dance, huh?" She said, jumping up from her seat at the bar. "Can't be that bad, right?" Xander smiled and Faith felt her heart suddenly warm at the thought that she had made him smile. Following Xander out onto the dance floor, she smiled slightly when his hands rested on her hips. Moving closer to him, she let her body take over, swaying in rhythm with the music. She could feel the warmth of Xander's body pressing against hers and the smell of his cologne filled her senses, but something else was nagging at the back of her mind.

Faith stiffened and turned, looking back over her shoulder. "What is it?" Xander asked, following her line of sight.

"Vampire," Faith spat out. "Convenient timing too. Look, I have to go handle this," she said almost apologetically. Xander nodded.

"It's cool. I'll be here when you get back," Xander replied.

"Is it the mission of every demon in this God forsaken town to screw me over?" Faith muttered to herself as she fished a stake out of her boots and slipped out of one of the side exits of the Bronze. "Hey!" She called to the vampire, who was leading a female student away. "Got a minute?" She asked as the vampire turned around.

"Slayer," he hissed. "You're not supposed to be here."

"What does that mean? I can't have a little fun? I know…I know, I'm not the school dance type. But seriously, get over it," Faith ranted, obviously annoyed.

"What are you talking about?" The vampire asked, letting go of his grip on the girl, who was looking around confused.

"Uh, what's going on? Who's this bitch?" The girl asked, looking at Faith with obvious disdain.

"Excuse me? Bitch? I'm about to save your life and you're calling me a bitch?" Faith asked incredulously. "I don't know why I even do this."

"Get outta here," the vampire growled over at the girl. "Something better just dropped into my lap."

"What?" The girl screeched, about to argue.

"Take him up on the offer. Get lost," Faith said menacingly. The girl looked like she was about to stomp her feet and pout, but thought better of it, and ran back into the Bronze. "So what's all this about me not being here?"

"Slayerfest. You're supposed to be at Slayerfest," the vampire said. "They said we'd have our pick of this place tonight."

"Well, they were wrong," Faith said, slightly confused. "Look, I have places to be, so let's just get this over with." The vampire rushed forward, only to be met with Faith's fist slamming into his face. He stumbled back and she capitalized on his moment of weakness by kicking his legs out from under him. Pouncing on top of him, she whipped back her stake and plunged it deep into his chest. The vampire looked stunned for a moment before he exploded into dust.

Faith rose to her feet and looked around. "Slayerfest. What the hell is that?" She muttered to herself before walking into the Bronze. A couple of people had taken the stage and were about to announce the Homecoming queen. Faith looked around for Xander, but found that someone else had located him first, two people in fact. Cordelia and Buffy were on other side of him, both looking as if they had taken the idea of loving nature a bit too far. Faith sighed and watched Xander smile over at Cordelia, trying to reassure her that she would win, without angering the slayer on his other side at the same time.

Before she could stifle it, Faith felt a pang of jealousy stir up in her chest. "What am I even doing here?" She asked herself in disgust. She thought that she could fit in with Buffy and her friends. But she was just deluding herself. They didn't care if she was there or not and Xander had only come over to her because he was alone. But his friends were all there now and he obviously didn't need her. It didn't take much for Faith to see that there wasn't a place for her with them.

"Hey," a guy said walking up to her. "How's it going?" He asked, smiling brightly. Faith looked him over. While he didn't seem to possess an ounce of intelligence as far as she could tell, he was fairly easy on the eyes. Smiling, she realized that fate had just dumped the perfect way to get over Xander Harris and his friends right into her lap.

"Well, I'd be better if we could find someplace a little more private to get to know each other, if you know what I mean," Faith said in her Boston drawl that always seemed to melt members of the opposite sex. The guy nodded and motioned to the door.

"My place?" He asked. Faith nodded and he led her out. She had just disappeared out of the door, throwing a last look back at Xander, when he turned, feeling someone's eyes pass over him. He didn't see anyone so he shrugged the feeling off and smiled over at Cordelia, despite the cold detachment he felt coming off her in waves. It used to bother him that she was so callous towards him, but lately, he didn't care. Something, or someone rather, had seemed to carve out a place for herself in his heart, a place that was growing bigger everyday.

"Where is Faith?" He whispered low enough for no one to hear. The Homecoming winners were announced, neither of which were Buffy or Cordelia. The two girls turned and stormed out before he could offer his condolences, leaving only Willow and Oz left. "Well, that went well," he said somewhat sarcastically. Even though his friends were still there, he felt more lonely than he had in a long time. Every time his eyes would land on a brunette similar to Faith, his heart would start racing, thinking that it was her. But then he would realize that it wasn't. Dejectedly, he said goodbye to his friends and left the Bronze to walk home.