A/N: A few people thought the restraining order was farfetched – it sadly isn't, I know this because of what happened to a friend, to which I won't go into detail.

Chapter 4

Buffy entered the house, giggling as she saw Sam pretend to be a ninja and using cover to keep from being seen by her mother. They had spent the entire day shopping for the hypothetical date with Faith – assuming Buffy gathered enough courage to ask Faith and the dark brunette actually said 'yes'.

Despite Sam's reassurances, Buffy still wasn't sure that Faith liked her like that.

The giggling died off as she saw her mother standing angrily in front of her. With a sigh, Buffy tried to slip past her but her mother would have none of that and motioned for the younger girl to go into the living room. Buffy flopped down on the couch with her packages and tried to keep from glaring at her mother.

Joyce sat down on a chair opposite of her daughter and handed her a pen and pad of paper. Buffy's eyes narrowed angrily, but she took the offered items. Using large strokes she wrote 'WHAT?" and held it up for her mother to see.

"You've been seeing Sam Williams behind my back; how long has this been going on?" Joyce asked sternly, her tone broking no argument.

SINCE THE RESTRAINING ORDER, Buffy wrote, a resentful look on her face. Even though Joyce had known, she was still shocked that Buffy had been able to keep a secret for so long. A deep feeling of distrust settled in her chest as she wondered what else her daughter has been keeping from her.

"Why did you not only purposely disobey me, but disregarded the restraining order?"

SHE'S MY FRIEND!

"She tried to take advantage of you!" Joyce shouted.

IT WAS MUTUAL! I WANTED TO KISS HER!

Joyce stared at her daughter in shock and then visibly tried to calm herself down.

"Buffy, you were only twelve," she said in a patronizing tone, "you didn't know what you were feeling."

GOD MOM!

I

WANTED

TO

KISS

HER!!!!

Buffy wrote angrily, using a whole sheet of paper for each word – trying to get her anger and frustration across to her mother. She had let her mother keep her and Sam from having a relationship then but Sam was right, she couldn't deny her feelings for Faith just because she was afraid of her mom's reaction.

"Buffy, all girls feel the need to," Joyce appeared to struggle for a moment, "experiment but…"

The blonde held up a hand, halting her mom's words and began to write.

I STILL WANT TO.

Joyce felt slightly faint as she read the words and looked at her daughter for confirmation – who rolled her eyes at her mom's disbelieving look and nodded curtly.

"So you still feel for…?"

Again, Buffy nodded but decided now was not the time to explain that she was having those same feelings for Faith. Besides, it wasn't exactly a lie since she was still attracted to the older girl, even though they were just friends now.

'Oh, um, are you two…dating?" she asked the last word hesitantly, still not quite believing she was having this conversation with her 'straight' daughter.

Buffy shook her head and wrote, WE'RE JUST FRIENDS.

"But, you like, girls?' Joyce asked, having calmed down enough to be able to try and have a conversation – even if she was still unnerved by the idea of her daughter liking girls. Plus, Joyce was having flashbacks to the night her daughter ran away, and she didn't want a repeat of that.

Buffy squirmed, not really wanting to have this conversation with her mother – especially with flashcards.

YA KINDA.

"Are you dating anyone right now?" Joyce asked, and was surprised by the depressed look that covered Buffy's face as she shook her head. With a flash of insight, she realized that she hadn't seen that look on her daughter's face since Faith's arrival. The constant depression and sadness from Angel's death had left Buffy when she was around the younger girl.

"Do you like Faith?" Joyce asked quietly, examining her daughter's reaction carefully. The blonde jerked in surprise, and looked at her mother like a deer caught in headlights. At the fear in Buffy's eyes, for the first time Joyce felt ashamed of her actions all those years ago.

"There's nothing wrong with that."

Buffy just gave her a sceptical look, which Joyce admitted she deserved. Sighing, Joyce rose from her chair and sat down beside her daughter and threw her arm over Buffy's shoulders.

"Have you told Faith?"

Keeping her head down, Buffy shook her head again and wrote, I'M AFRAID.

"That she will react badly?"

Another nod.

"But you'll never know either way if you don't say something."

Buffy smiled to herself at her mother's words; especially since just minutes before she was yelling at her for still seeing Sam after they had been caught kissing six years ago.

THAT'S WHAT SAM SAID.

Joyce looked at her daughter in surprise, and for the first time wondered what part Sam played in her daughters life.

"Did you and Sam date after…" Joyce hesitated over mentioning the incident, now feeling guilty over her reaction to the situation. Buffy took pity on her mother and answered the unfinished question.

NO, WE JUST BECAME FRIENDS. I TALKED TO HER ABOUT STUFF I COULDN'T TALK TO YOU OR MY OTHER FRIENDS ABOUT. Buffy hesitated for a moment, and then continued writing, SHE TAUGHT ME SIGN LANGUAGE.

"How does she know sign language?" Joyce asked curiously.

HER BROTHER WAS BORN DEAF. HE DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT, SO HER FAMILY MOVED. USING SIGN LANGUAGE WAS HER WAY OF KEEPING THE MEMORY OF HER BROTHER ALIVE.

Joyce stared at her daughter in horror; Sam's brother had died, and then she had to move leaving behind friends, and then to have a restraining order placed against her…the entire experience must have been terribly traumatic for the poor girl. Face flushing with guilt, Joyce turned to look at her daughter who was looking at her with look of compassion and sadness. Buffy took her mom's hand and squeezed it gently.

Joyce brushed away the tears that had fallen and smiled at her daughter, "How about you go and find Sam and ask her over for supper?"

Buffy smiled brightly and hugged her mother before tearing out of the house.

Joyce watched Buffy go, and wondered how many times she would keep repeating the same mistakes before she stopped hurting her daughter.

Faith was wandering around aimlessly when she found herself outside the Summers' residence.

Right, you just happened to wind up at Buffy's place, she said sarcastically to herself. For someone not even getting any, I've been fucking pussy whipped.

Despite her internal recriminations, Faith found herself pressing the doorbell. Buffy answered and a huge grin lit the blonde girl's face at the sight of the other Slayer. Faith felt herself starting to grin goofily, but managed to keep it down to a smirk. She wouldn't want to lose her hard earned tough girl image.

Buffy waved for the younger girl to come in and Faith's stomach growled as she smelled food. Buffy giggled at Faith's impossible to fill stomach, and grabbed the girl's hand and dragged her into the dining room. Keeping her face blank, inside Faith was slowly melting at the feel of having the other girl's hand in her own.

But that pleasant feeling vanished as she saw that she wasn't the only guest for dinner. Sam was sitting to Joyce's left and was laughing at something Joyce had said, before the two women turned to watch the entrance of the two Slayers. Joyce rose and went into the kitchen, returning quickly with another plate that she set beside Buffy who was on Joyce's right.

Faith quickly sat down and started shovelling food onto her plate, trying to ignore the fourth member of the party as much as possible.

"So, Faith, what brings you over?" Joyce asked, watching with amusement as the girl attacked the food.

"Just wondering if B wanted to patrol with me tonight," Faith said casually, sneaking a glance at Sam and wondering what had happened since this morning.

Just this morning Mrs. S was going to sick the police of Sam, now she's fixing her food? What the fuck is going on? Fuck, if Sam's in good with Mrs. S that means I've got less of a chance with B…not that I had much of one to begin with.

Ignorant of Faith's inner dialogue Buffy grinned widely and nodded enthusiastically. The sight of Buffy's obvious happiness caused Faith's features to soften for a moment and an equally happy grin crossed her features. Unbeknownst to the two Slayers, the other two women at the table shared a knowing glance at the love between the two girls – even if they were still oblivious to it.

The supper progressed quietly; Buffy unable to talk, Faith leery of Sam and the other two women were too amused by the unspoken dialogue and hidden glances to carry much of a conversation. The supper ended and Joyce shooed the two Slayers out the door; not that she got any arguments from either girl.

Sam helped Joyce clean up and began to make her excuses when Joyce asked her to stay. Even though Buffy had said her mom was okay with them being friends, Sam was still nervous about being alone with the older woman. After all, this was the same woman that had a restraining order placed against her.

They sat at the kitchen counter and Sam sipped her coffee nervously.

"I want to apologize."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise; she definitely hadn't been expecting to hear that coming out of Mrs. Summers' mouth.

"Buffy told me what happened, and the…circumstances surrounding that time in your life. I just want to say I'm sorry for adding to it."

Sam looked at the liquid in her cup and thought about what to say to the woman sitting beside her. She had never talked about what happened to anyone besides Buffy. She sighed heavily.

"It was partially my own fault. Pip was too young and I was her babysitter. But I want you to know that I really did like her -- I still do."

Joyce nodded her encouragement and Sam continued.

"After you…caught us, we continued to see each other even if it was just as friends. She learned sign language for me so I wouldn't forget – it was my way of hanging on to my brother's memory. Pip was, is, my best friend and she's always supported me. I've always blamed myself for the fact that Pip seemed to deny any attraction to girls."

Sam raised her head and looked Joyce straight in the eyes.

"She really loves Faith. God, it's been the only thing she's talked about for the last month or so. I want you to know this isn't some experiment or fling – and I don't think it is for Faith either."

Joyce raised her eyebrows at that. "How would you know that?"

Sam chuckled softly to herself.

"Fuck, I've heard so much about Faith I feel like I'm dating her myself. I clocked Buffy talking about Faith's voice alone for twenty minutes."

Joyce smiled to the mental picture of her daughter chatting away on the phone – even though the image was touched with sadness at the idea that Buffy would never do that again.

"Unfortunately, both of them are convinced the other one doesn't see them in that way. I've finally convinced Buffy to ask Faith out, but her fear of Faith's reaction and the fact she can't talk…she'll probably convince herself that I'm seeing things. She's so goddamn stubborn," Sam finished in frustration, and pouted. Joyce laughed and wondered if that's where Buffy had learned her own rather powerful pout.

"Any suggestions?"

Sam looked at Joyce in astonishment, and then grinned wickedly.

"Well, I do have one idea, if you're willing to be an accomplice."

The two Slayers walked together silently. Faith kept sneaking glances at the blonde Slayer when she wasn't looking, and Buffy was doing the same to Faith. Finally, Faith's curiosity got the better of her and asked what she had been wondering since she saw Sam laughing with Mrs. S.

"So, your mom and Sam seem to get along well."

Buffy grinned to herself, knowing that Faith didn't know that she knew that Faith knew that mom didn't like Sam. The Slayer frowned softly and thought for a moment – trying to decide if that made sense. Remembering Faith was still waiting for an answer, she nodded, with a wry smile on her face.

Now.

"They didn't before?" Faith asked, faking innocence. Buffy ducked her head to hide her grin at Faith's bad lying -- which, of course, she found absolutely adorable. Getting control of herself, Buffy shook her head.

Bad history. Good now.

Faith frowned in confusion, and the older Slayer shrugged her shoulders apologetically. Even though they were able to communicate through their Slayer's bond, they weren't exactly able to have deep and meaningful conversations. Yet, Buffy hoped.

Again they both grew silent, but this time it's a comfortable silence. Both were simply enjoying the presence of the other, this being the first time they were patrolling together since the night they were trapped by the demons. As the two walked, they took note of their surroundings, and Faith was reminded of the dream she had had just the night before. She covertly looked at her sister Slayer, and wondered if Buffy remembered the dream. She wanted to tell Buffy that her Watcher's death wasn't her fault, and that the kiss they had shared meant something.

Buffy was having the same thoughts, although she was wondering if it had been the 'real' Faith in her dream. The blonde caught the questioning look on her partner's face and she help a surge of hope; maybe Faith really had been in her dream. Gathering her courage, she started to turn to Faith when the other girl abruptly stopped.

Turning back, she saw Faith looking down and a chill went down Buffy's spine as she realized what Faith was looking at. It was the hole that the demons had dug in order to trap them.

"Shit, B, that's deep. No wonder the fall knocked me out. We're sure lucky you got us out of here."

Faith frowned and knelt down, examining the hole closer. There was no way Buffy could have climbed out of this – even by herself – without help.

"B, how did you get us out of here; there's no way you could have climbed these walls."

Giles. Rope.

Buffy looked nervous and looked everywhere but at Faith or the hole beside her.

"How did he know where to find us?"

Phone.

With that Buffy turned and continued walking – fast – forcing Faith to jog to catch up to her. Catching up with her partner, Faith remained quiet but her mind was flooded with questions. But there was one question that stood out from the others: how did Buffy phone Giles if she couldn't talk?

There was something Buffy was keeping her, and Faith was determined to find out what it was.

TBC