She lies on her side and then puts her arm around my stomach, pulling me so that I'm also on my side and she's spooning me. I can feel her nipples against my back, her breath on the nape of my neck, and her fingers drawing patterns on my stomach. I reach down and pull up the ripped sheet to our waists. My movement shifted B's fingers, moving them to my scar. She stops moving her fingers and I feel her tense up.

B finally relaxes and starts kissing my neck and moving her fingers over the scar. She whispers, "I'm so sorry I did this. I hurt you, and your gorgeous body will always be marked because of what I did."

"I needed it, B. This scar will always remind me of what I've done, and what I can never let myself become again. I need it. Don't be sorry."

She moves closer, snuggling into me. I hear her murmur into my neck that she loves me. Fuck, I love you too. You have no idea how much.

I wake up to the sun shining in my eye and a soft, warm body wrapped all around me. The previous night comes flooding back into my mind. I can't stop the fucking retarded grin that's spreading on my face. I probably look like such an ass.

B grumbles in her sleep and then turns her head so that she's facing me and resting it on my shoulder. She slowly opens her eyes, and I know that this is how I want to wake up for the rest of my life.

"Hey," she purrs, stretching her amazingly sexy limbs.

I start to respond, when I hear a noise growing closer. "Do you hear that?"

Before B can answer, Willow comes busting into the room. "Faith, Buffy's missing. We're gonna go looking for her. We need-" She stops talking and stares at us. B's sat up and her tits are all on display. She seems to notice and quickly grabs the sheet to cover herself, leaving me butt-naked. Oh well, I don't care. Let Red get an eyeful.

"What is this?" Willow practically growls, her eyes flashing black. Shit, this is so not good.

"Wills, it's not…" It's not what, B? Tell me she's not gonna try and deny all this. No. She loves me. I love her. She wouldn't fucking do that to me.

Red just turns around and starts walking away. B immediately jumps up and grabs her robe, racing after Willow. I grab some pants off the floor and a wife beater and race out after them. I catch up to them at the foot of the staircase, where B has grabbed Red's arm to stop her and is crying.

"Willow, please, don't. I'm sorry. You're my best friend. Please, don't do this to me."

"I don't even know you," Red says flatly, jerking her arm away. She rushes down the stairs, Buffy following behind her. I prepare myself for the worst, and follow them down the stairs.

The whole group's here, and they're getting ready to go out. I guess they really were serious about looking for B.

"It's OK, guys. I found Buffy. She was in Faith's room."

Everyone looks at B and then at me. Great. I really didn't want everyone to find out this way.

"Buffy, why were you in Faith's room? We were really worried," Dawn says, her voice little and weak. I think she knows something is going on.

"And you bed wasn't made, Buff. Did you spend the whole night in her room?" Xander's looking expectantly at B. They need to mind their business and stop questioning her. She doesn't have to answer to them.

"Um, yeah, I was in her room all night," B says, and I notice that she's moved a little bit away from me. I don't even think she realized she was doing it. The thing is, though, I feel like she's put more than just physical distance between us.

"Why?" Xander asks. None of your damn bees wax.

"Is that any of your fucking business, Xanman?" I'm officially not staying silent through this thing anymore.

"No, Faith. I think we all would like to know why you and Buffy were naked and wrapped around each other in your bed," Willow says. Well, I think the shit may have really just hit the fan.

"WHAT?" Xander, Dawn, and Andrew all yell. What the hell does Bitch Boy care?
"Okay, why doesn't everybody take a chill pill? Or a dozen. Can I offer anyone a Sea Breeze?" Lorne asks, trying to calm everyone down. For some reason, I really don't think that's gonna work.

Gunn, Fred, Wes, and Giles have moved off to the side, trying to stay out of the fight. They sit down at the table that we moved into the hotel last week. Connor's sitting on the staircase, watching the whole thing like we're animals at the fucking zoo. Everyone else is standing around looking wicked tense.

"So, what does this mean, Buffy?" Willow asks, her voice getting angrier with every word. "You decided, 'Hey, I think I'll explore the sapphic side of life. Maybe I'll try it out with the chick who betrayed and tried to kill us all!"

"Willow, give them a break. OK, so maybe we didn't see this coming, but if Buffy's happy then we should try to be understanding." Who would have thought Dawnie would be the one to defend us. "Besides, Faith's pretty cool. If Buffy wants to be a carpet-muncher, she might as well do it with her."

"Hey!" B yells.

"Faith's COOL?" Red's really getting pissed now. Her face is starting to match her hair. "Has everyone had their memories wiped? She tried to KILL us all. She betrayed us. She's a murdering, manipulative whore that I wouldn't trust as far as I can throw her! And being one of the non-slayers in this hotel, that's not very far!"

OK, I'm not taking this shit anymore. She was thrown off of that high horse a long time ago. She no longer has the right to talk or judge me. "Fuck you, Red. You are so full of shit, it's ridiculous. OK, number one, where do you get off calling ME a murderer. The way I hear it, you've joined the club. You've got yourself a premium membership. Skinned a guy alive, if I'm not mistaken. Number two, I never tried to kill you, so don't flatter yourself. The only people in this room that I actually tried to kill are Angel, B, and Xander. You weren't important enough to kill. And let me tell you, if I had really wanted any of you dead, you wouldn't be here now. You'd be six feet under. I could have snapped Xander's neck, aimed a little bit to the right when I shot Angel, and put a gun against B's head while she was sleeping. I had the power to put every single one of you down, and you know it. And number three, I'll say this one time. If you ever call me a whore again, I'll kill you."

I got closer to Red during my little speech, and I'm right in her face now. We're having a staring contest, seeing who will back down first. That's when Kennedy decides to butt her stupid nose in.

"Don't threaten her. I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I know you definitely aren't the big bad bitch who runs this place. You may have been a big deal before, but you don't scare me. I'm a slayer now, and I can-" She's cut off by my fist slamming into her face and throwing her a good five feet back.
"Listen up, Kid," I say, looking down at her on the floor. I don't even feel a little bad about hitting her. "I don't give a shit what you are now. I've been doing this longer, I'm stronger, and I'm better. Don't kid yourself into thinking you could ever take me. The only person who could ever beat me without magic-ing themselves up first," I give Red a pointed look, "is B. So stay down, Sweetie. The grown-ups are talking."

"I think I'd have to agree with Faith. While she is the Dark Slayer, true good, such as Buffy, will always-"

"Shut up, Andrew!" Just about everyone shouts. He jumps and skitters over to the table.

Now we're standing around staring at each other. At least everyone's stopped going apeshit.

"You're disgusting." I spoke too soon. Robin's stepping up to me. Shit, I totally forgot about him. How did I not notice him? He's been leaning up against the counter over at the reception area. Fuck, this just got a whole lot worse.

"Robbie, I didn't want to hurt-"

"Shut UP!" He yells, cutting me off. His voice was so loud, Dawn jumped. "You didn't want to hurt me?" Robin starts laughing, and now I'm the one that flinches. I don't think I've ever heard a laugh sound that harsh before. And that's including my laugh during my crazy days. "I don't think you ever cared enough about me to even bother wanting to hurt me. You never cared about what I wanted or how I felt. I was just a toy to you. Something to use at your convenience and throw away when you were done. Now I know why you couldn't care about me. You didn't need to… You had her."

Robin looks Buffy over with a sneer. The only thing stopping me from punching out this asshole is the fact that I've kind of just broken his heart. But this is the only time I'll give him any leeway. No one can say I'm insensitive.

"What is it, Faith? What could you possibly be getting from her that you're not getting from me? Is it the fact that I've never tried to kill you? That I've acted like I actually cared about you? That I don't treat you like the murderer that you are? Is THAT what you're getting from her?"

"That's enough," Angel growls. I'm not too sure if he's getting in to defend me or B. "You're a newbie, so maybe you shouldn't talk like you actually know anything."

Go Angel! I knew there was a reason I liked him so much. Robin looks around at everyone, gives me a long, disgusted look, and then storms out of the hotel. We're all standing around silently again, when Xander says in a quiet voice, "She's gonna hurt you, Buffy. I don't necessarily think it'll be on purpose, but it's all she knows how to do."

I look at B, waiting to hear her response to this. She's got tears in her eyes. Come on, B. Tell them it's not true. Tell them we love each other and that no one will be hurting anyone. B just keeps looking around, searching everyone's expressions, until she finally lands on me. She gives me the saddest, most begging look. But it's not begging for help. It's begging me to forgive her. I can already feel my world starting to shatter.

"Guys, it's not like that. It's not like we're even really together. I was just feeling needy last night. Faith seemed like a good option. It wasn't serious, and it won't happen again. You guys are overreacting." She looks around at her friends, obviously hoping that they believe her.

I don't think I can breathe. If I thought being raped, stabbed, and beaten hurt, those were nothing compared to how I feel now. My chest is burning and I feel like I might throw up. She doesn't love me. If she did, she wouldn't do this to me. She wouldn't be ashamed of me. She wouldn't break my heart like this.

Willow looks hopeful after Buffy's explanation. Her eyes have stopped flicking to black.

I wish I was dead.

Dawn looks confused. Xander looks like he doesn't fully buy it. Angel's looking at Buffy like he can't believe her nerve.

And me? I look fine. I look like I couldn't give a shit. But on the inside? I've just died. My intestines have been ripped out and I'm bleeding to death. My heart has been cut out and then shoved down my throat to choke me. But you can't tell any of this from my passive, nonchalant, outward appearance. The only thing that slightly gives it away is my right hand that's shaking. The hand that Angel's staring at.

Now we're all standing around again. This silence is starting to pound in my head like I'm in front of the speaker at a concert. Just when I think I may crack, a loud voice calls all of our attentions to the staircase.

"What the hell are all of you losers doing here?" Cordelia asks. Perfect.