Ok, I'm gonna put the rest that I have up, cuz you guys obviously love this and I don't want to keep it from you ;D As to why Buffy kept that stuff from Faith, I don't think I ever went into it. Hmm, I gotta think about that. Hopefully I'll have this finished before too long, I just gotta figure out how the hell I'm gonna work the whole Queen thing (I have a couple of little things I know are going into it, but as for the big picture, I have no clue. Help would be lovely).

"Ok, I'm giving each of you £150. Its eleven now, and we have a dinner reservation for seven. I expect you to buy something to wear on the 17th. Something decent, something not too revealing." What? Why'd he look at me when he said that? It's not like I was gonna appear nude in front of the Queen or something. I do have tact.

"So I'm guessing I can't just wear the leather pants and pasties with tassels that I brought with me then, darn." Red giggles at this; she's lightened up so much since I've come back, maybe it was the going evil, or maybe it was just Tara. I knew Tara would be great for her. I look at B, and dude, she's blushing. I love it when I make B blush, it makes me feel all special. Man, I'm getting way too soft.

"Yes, that would probably be inappropriate," Giles says softly after making clicking noises with his tongue. I'm almost positive I heard him say something like 'what am I going to do with her?', but even with my Slayer hearing, I can't be sure. I had almost forgotten he was there.

"So what will you do while we're out shopping?" B asks just to say something.

"Do you really care?"

"Why is it that you always just assume I don't care about your personal life?" B asks in a huff. Giles just raises an eyebrow and makes a slightly amused face. "Ok, so I don't really care, but I should at least be given points for trying to start a conversation."

"So we're off then, we'll see you at seven?" Willow says, it wasn't really meant to be a question, but her voice rose at the end as a result of her pulling us along with her out the door.

"Yes, seven."

Willow

"Ah, B, look. It's a weapon store." Jeez, she sounds like a kid on Christmas, bouncing up and down. "Look at that cross-bow, its sweet."

"C'mon Faith, you heard Giles," Buffy scolds. "You can't just spend all your money on weapons. Besides, the money Giles gave you couldn't buy that cross-bow."

Faith just pouts; Buffy takes her by the wrist to pull her away, but Faith won't budge. "Ah, c'mon B, just let me look around a bit," she says, pouting more and batting her eyelashes. Buffy pouts back. Ah, they're flirting, how cute. I bet they don't even realize it.

"Let her go in Buffy, she'll never shut up if you don't at least let her look," I laugh slightly, this is so cute, I can't help myself. "Though you should go with her, keep an eye on her ya know." Just keep 'em together Will, they'll figure it out eventually.

"Ok, we can look," Buffy gives in, but she's smiling. Faith's jumping up and down; down girl! Wow, she's hyper right now.

"You guys have fun, I'm gonna start my shopping. See that pub down there?" I point down the street at an old looking pub called the 'Hung, Drawn, and Quartered'. They nod. "We'll meet back there at two, k?"

"Sure thing Red," Faith says eagerly as she drags Buffy into the shop after her. Ah, you know Buffy will enjoy that store as much as Faith.

I've gone into a few stores, it's been about an hour and a half since I left Buffy and Faith, but I've yet to find anything that I really like. Maybe I should stay away from all those big stores. There are so many little boutiques around here, I've always loved those.

This one sounds promising. It's a little store on the corner named simply, "The Dress Shoppe".

Hmm, the window display's kinda cute. Long, kinda glittery red dress with a long slit. Not exactly what I had in mind though. I kinda want to go for something simpler, maybe a little black dress.

Speaking of little black dresses, there's Faith and she's about to go try on probably four variations of said number. I think she should go for something new.

"Hey Faith," I say as I walk in the store.

"Hey Red."

"What'cha looking at?" I ask, eyeing her dresses.

"Little black dress, figure it's the safest," she shrugs. "I don't do the whole dress thing often, ya know?"

"I think the last time, no, the only time I saw you in a dress was Homecoming."

"Yeah, I think I've worn a dress one, maybe two, other times," she chuckles.

"Well, I'm gonna look around for me. Why don't you try those on and come out in the one you like best? Then I'll tell you what I think."

She just nods and goes off to the changing rooms in the back. I gotta find her something else. Maybe something that'll catch Buffy off guard. Heh, heh. Playing match maker can be fun sometimes. It's not like I'll have to do much anyway, just a little shove in the right direction, get them talking. I mean, it's so obvious, at least to me and Ken, and I think Dawn made a comment about it once too; she's a very perceptive girl. Just a Slayer thing my ass; what they feel for each other goes so much deeper than just that, they're just clueless.

This is somewhat amusing, now that I think of it. Me, Willow, the geeky, no dress sense girl, telling Faith what will look best. Yes, quite amusing.

There's a nice one, it's fairly simple; no frills, no glitter, no lace, and it's definitely different. Yeah, so it's white, but she has to at least try it on. It's a beautiful dress, the material's kinda soft and thin; it's long with a slit from just above the knee. Low back, and the front is laced up with a white ribbon. I think it'll look good on her, if she can get passed the fact that it's white.

"Faith, have you tried them on yet?" I call through the door. All I get is a muffled 'yeah' in response. "So, let's see it then."

She comes out in one with a strappy back. It does look good on her, but she could do better.

"You like?" she asks as she twirls around in front of me.

"It's nice, but I think you should try something other than black," I suggest, the white dress draped over my arm. Yeah Will, smooth, real smooth.

"Yeah, I guess I could try something in red," she mumbles, obviously giving thought to my idea. Then she looks back at me and the dress. "That the one you're trying? It's nice."

"Glad you like it, but no." Ha! I think I've confused her; I'm guessing she knows what I'm thinking, but is hoping it's not true. "I was thinking it'd look good on you."

"Red, I thought you knew me better than that," she teases, hands on hips. "I don't do white; at least not all white."

"Ah, c'mon Faith, just try it on," I urge, holding the dress up to her. "If it looks like crap, you just put it back and I'll buy you a drink."

"Fine!" she huffs, but she still takes the dress and goes back into the room.

As she's doing her thing, I head over to look at more dresses. I like this one, it's kinda old Hollywood-esk, makes me think of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Yay, they have it in my size.

"Hey, Red!"

"Yeah, just a sec." I pick up the dress and go to the back. Faith's standing there, hands crossed on her chest, but she's smiling slightly. I twirl my finger and she spins for me. Her arms are out, she's on her toes and has a huge grin on her face now. I knew she'd like it.

"Yeah, so you were right," she pouts.

"You look hot, Faith," I laugh and raise an eyebrow. "I might just have to get rid of Ken."

I nudge her arm with my elbow and she laughs. "Yeah, right."

"Ok, so I wouldn't go that far, but I think Buffy will love it," I say, smiling, but she just frowns.

"What's that supposed to mean, Red?" Oh, good job Will, she's glaring at you now. Coulda been just a little less blunt.

"Oh, nothing." I shrug it off all innocent like, but she's still glaring. "I'm gonna try this on, you go buy your dress. We have about an hour left, so we have time to buy shoes."

About seven minutes later we leave the store with two more bags and a lot less money.

"So, what did you mean back there?" Faith asks me after we've walked a while in silence.

"What do you mean, what did I mean?" Yeah, there you go Willow, play the ignorance card.

"Oh, don't give me that Willow, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Uh oh, she said my name; I should probably stop screwing around.

"You mean you don't understand? I mean, c'mon Faith, it's pretty obvious."

"What's obvious?" she asks innocently, but she's looking at her feet again.

"Oh, now who's playing dumb?" I stop walking and grab her wrist, turning her around to face me and bringing her eyes up to mine. "You like her, don't you?" I ask her softly, but her eyes go back down. "It's not something to be ashamed of, c'mon Faith, you should know that."

"So what if I do, it's not like she feels the same way," she huffs and starts walking again.

"What? Are you blind?" She stops and looks at me with a puzzled expression. "She feels the same about you, you can tell, especially after last night."

"What, did she tell you?" she asks skeptically, but there was hope in her voice as well. "And last night didn't mean anything, we were both scared shitless."

"No, she didn't, but-"

"See, you can't be positive, and I'm not gonna go make a fool out of myself because 'you can tell'," she shoots back. "I've been hurt too many times."

"Ok, fine," I give in. "I'm not gonna push you, but it would save a lot of pain for all of us."

"Just drop it, k?" she yells back, walking off.

"Fine."

We got our shoes and made it to the pub about ten minutes early. It's already getting fairly rowdy when we get there. We sit at the bar and order some drinks. Faith turns around in her seat and starts to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I ask, turning to look where she's looking.

"Those guys over in the corner are arm wrestling," she points out, then just watches them as they go at it. After it's over, she just laughs again. "Man, that's sad. That guy's a wimp and it took the other guy five minutes to get his arm down. I coulda beaten him in like ten seconds."

"Yeah, ok Faith," I just laugh at her. What an ego! She gets up and walks toward them. "Hey, Faith, where ya going?"

"I'm gonna show 'em how it's really done." Oh, great Faith. I guess I should follow her so she doesn't get herself into any trouble.

"Hey guys," she says, strutting over. It's so funny when she struts. "Can I have a go?"

They all start laughing as they look her over. "I don' think so lassie, I don' wanna hurt ya."

"Ah, give it a shot. How much is on the table?" Ah, Faith, no betting, we don't actually have any money left.

"£40 miss, but are ya sure you wanna do this?" the guy who just lost asks as he continues to stretch out the kinks in his arm.

"Hey Faith?" I tap her on the shoulder, and she turns to look at me. "Go easy on them, k? We don't need them to think you're a freak or something."

"Well, duh, Red. C'mon, I know what I'm doin'. Have a little faith, would ya?" she says with a wink and sits down, laughing slightly at her own pun. "Which hand?"

"The lassie gets to chose," answered the Scottish guy she'd spoken to originally.

"Ok then," she smiled and put up her left hand. "I'm a righty, but I saw you using your left, so I'll give you the advantage."

"Alright, if you insist," he smirked. Oh Faith, don't get all cocky.

It takes about ten seconds for Faith to start looking bored, but she sticks with the plan. Another thirty seconds and he was starting to go red from the effort, but he wasn't about to lose to a girl. A few seconds later, Faith finally put him out of his misery.

"Who wants the next go?" Faith offers to the other pub goers who had crowded around to witness this. Apparently there were many who wanted to prove their manhood against this strange American chick.

Fifteen minutes later, Buffy finally arrives and Faith is in the middle of another match.

"Hey Will, sorry I'm late." She puts her arm over my shoulder and frowns as she sees Faith. "Though I see you guys have kept busy. What's she doing?"

"Basically? Robbing them of their money and pride. They don't know when to give up, it's quite amusing," I laugh, Buffy smiles back at me and chuckles softly. "She's been at it for over fifteen minutes now."

"Ah, Faith, she does have a way at getting what she wants out of men, doesn't she," Buffy muses as Faith slams yet another hand onto the table. We both cheer loudly for Faith and she looks over. When she sees that Buffy's here, her entire face turns into a grin. Yup, she's got it bad.

"B! Finally, I thought maybe you'd died or something," she shouts over the noise of the pub. She takes Buffy by the hand and brings her to the table. "I bet any of you double the amount on the table that you can't beat my friend here."

The entire pub goes up in a roar of laughter, but neither of them flinch.

"Ah, you Americans are wussies," says a Frenchmen coming up from a few rows back. "I'll triple the amount on the table."

Buffy leans into Faith and whispers something in her ear. I can't hear anything, but I'm guessing she's asking how much money they're talking about. Faith whispers something back and Buffy looks at her with eyes and mouth wide.

"Fifteen hundred!" Buffy gasps, loud enough for half the pub to hear.

"Well, only if you win," Faith grins back. "But I have faith in you B."

"Oh, thanks, I'm glad I have your support," Buffy says as she sits down across from the Frenchmen and brings up her right hand. Faith bends down and whispers in her ear again and Buffy just nods. I'm guessing it was the strategy.

"Damn B! That was amazing, risky as hell though," Faith praises as we step out of the pub, much richer than when we had gone in. "I mean, I played 'em, but never like that. You had everyone in there thinking he was gonna win then, BAM! He was a goner, just like the rest of 'em."

"So how are we gonna split this?" Buffy asks as she stuffs the money in her purse.

"Well, a thousand of it is rightfully yours, Buff, and five hundred is Faith's."

"What about you Will, you should have at least some of it," Buffy urges, but I just shake my head.

"I didn't earn this, you guys did."

"Ya sure, Red?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Ok then, I'm off," she says after Buffy gives her the money, pointing down the street. "I'm gonna go look for something. I'll see you guys later."

"See ya Faith," we both wave as she walks away.

"So, you wanna split up or what?" I turn to Buffy as Faith walks around the corner and out of sight.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Ok, shoot," I say, showing her that she has my undivided attention.

"Um, tomorrow's Faith's birthday, she turns twenty-one," she starts and I smile. "She doesn't know that I know, but I saw it on her pass-port. I kinda wanted to do something special for her, seeing as we kinda screwed up all of her birthdays since she was sixteen."

"Wow, she was only sixteen when all that was going on with the mayor?" That makes me sad, I didn't realize how young she was. I knew she was younger than Buffy, but I thought it was only like six months younger. It surprises me that she's such a good person now. After the way we treated her then, she could have been so much worse. God I was a bitch back then.

"What ya thinking Will?" Buffy asks, smiling at me. I guess my eyes had glazed over or something.

"Oh, nothing. It's just, yeah, that is kinda sad," I say thoughtfully. "We should definitely do something nice for her. And twenty-one, I mean, that's a big deal. So yeah, whatever you have in mind, I'm up for it."

"Well, I have something for tomorrow night planned," she says, looking at me like she's worried about something. "But I know that Giles wouldn't like it, and I wasn't sure if you would want to go, so it's kinda just a me and Faith thing, if that's alright?"

Oh, like a date? I'm this close to saying that out loud, but I catch myself. "Yeah, that's fine. What are you going to?"

"Em, it's kinda a secret, but you'll find out tomorrow, don't worry." She smiles wickedly, apparently very proud of herself for what she had done. "But we should do something else too, during the day."

"Yeah, definitely, a party of some sort. There can be cake and presents and all sorts of fun stuff."

"Yeah, ok Will, and then we can play pin the tail on the donkey and give out little gift baggies," she suggests sarcastically

"What, do you think that I think that Faith is like five or something?" I shoot back. "And by the way, what was up with those little gift baggies anyway, I never understood them?"

"Yeah, me neither," she says quietly, then she's silent for a while and we just walk.

After a few minutes of silence, Buffy starts talking again. "Em Will, I actually have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Um, uh, sorry this is kinda weird," she babbles, then pauses for a few seconds, like she's working up the nerve to say whatever it is she wants to say. I bet I know what she wants to ask me about. "Uh, what do you think of Faith? I mean as a woman who likes other women, what do you think of her?"

Yup, knew it. Though I didn't expect her to phrase it like that. "I don't know. She's sexy; I mean like, really sexy. And her personality isn't bad either, now that we understand each other. I think she's a lot smarter than she lets us think. And if it weren't for the fact that I'm with Kennedy, I'd take her in an instant. I don't think I'm her type though. Why?"

"It's nothing, I was just wondering," she shrugs and continues walking. I just laugh. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, it's nothing," I laugh some more and shake my head a bit.

"No, it's definitely something."

"It's just the two of you, you guys really crack me up."

"What were you two talking about without me?"

"Nope, not aloud to tell," I say in mock seriousness, shaking my head firmly. "Faith would get mad at me, she probably wouldn't talk to me again."

"Ah, so it was kinda like this conversation then?" she asks hopefully.

"No, not really. It was more of me asking all the questions and her telling me it was all in my head, and to never, ever, tell you about what she said."

"What were you asking, and what did she mean?"

"Nope, can't tell, remember?" Stay firm Willow, don't give in. Ah, these two are gonna make me go insane if they don't figure out what's up, I swear.

"Will, you're impossible, did you know that?" Buffy punches my arm lightly.

"Yeah, I know; Ken tells me that all the time."

"Do you miss her?" she asks softly, linking our arms as we walked down the street.

"Yeah, I didn't think I would, especially since we've only been here a day, but I do. I felt so lonely last night. But I guess you'd know how that goes, you've been Spikeless for a few weeks now."

"I guess, I don't know. I mean, I miss Spike, yeah, but not like that. He was a great guy and a great warrior, but I kinda had my mind on other things, so I couldn't really love him."

"Yeah, big battle." Yeah, c'mon Will, little pushes, you'll get her to say it.

"Well, yeah, but not just that, there were other things, other people that just made it impossible for me to feel that way about him."

Almost there Will, almost there. "Like what?" I ask innocently. Playing dumb seems to be working a lot better with Buffy than it did with Faith.

"Well, the Potentials, for one. Then the school reopened. And you came back. And-and then, well Faith. Faith coming back and being so different changed a lot of stuff."

"Oh, I see." I really want to ask how, but I know that'd be pushing it. Just give it some more time. They'll be able to read each others thoughts soon and until they learn to control that, there'll be no hiding.

Faith

"So, do we have any plans for tomorrow?" I ask as I dig into my Yorkshire Pudding, this stuff's better than I thought it would be.

B and Red shoot quick glances at each other. Huh, I wonder what that was about.

"Nope," B says quickly. "What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering. Thought maybe we could look around the city or something, I don't know, I've never been here before."

"Hmm. Well, why don't you guys discuss this, I'll be right back," Red says quickly, getting up to go to the little lady's room.

After she leaves I just sit there quietly for a few minutes, poking at my food. I'm trying not to look at B, as that's kinda awkward after today. Finally I stand up. "I'm going to the restroom too, I'll be right back."

About half way there I spot Willow coming back. I grab her hand and haul her back into the restrooms.

"Well, did she say anything?" I ask hopefully the second we enter.

"Huh?"

"You know, after the pub. Did you guys talk about me?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I thought you didn't care." I hate it when she teases me like this.

"Well I wanna know if she said something. Did she say something?"

"Kinda."

"Kinda?" I'm gonna punch her if she keeps this up. "What did she say?"

"Well, she hinted at stuff, like, she wanted to know what I thought of you. What were her exact words?" she laughs as she remembers. "Oh yeah, 'as a woman who likes other women, what do you think of her?'"

What? She actually said that? That's so un-Buffy like.

"And she said that part of the reason she was never able to love Spike was 'cause you came back, and your changes apparently changed a lot of things for her."

"Wow! Really?" I ask, even more hopefully.

"Yeah. Are you gonna do something now that it's not as risky?" she asks as she hops up onto the counter.

"I dunno, probably. After the whole Queen thing, I'll bring it up," I shrug. Yeah, let's figure out what the Queen wants first, then we'll go from there.

"Faith, how long have you liked her?" Will asks. I didn't realize til just now that I've been pacing since we got in here, but I stop when she asks that.

"I dunno. When I was still a potential, my Watcher told me stories about her. I was fifteen at the time and it was kinda like hero worship. She'd laugh at me all the time 'cause I was always talking about going to find her when I became a Slayer," I say, inwardly laughing at my younger self for having such a stereotypical schoolgirl crush, well, maybe not that stereotypical, but closer to one than I'd ever admit to. "Then after I'd been called, I was just drawn to her. I had all these dreams about her; I knew exactly what she looked like before I even set foot in SunnyD. When I saw her, it was like love at first sight. It's kinda sad, I know."

"Not at all," Will says reassuringly. "I feel kinda bad actually, now that I think about it. When you suggested her taking you to Homecoming, you actually did want it to be a date, didn't you, even if she didn't think of it that way?"

I just smile weakly and look down at my shoes.

"I'm sorry about the whole, Cordy/Buffy bonding thing we set up," Willow says, truly upset about the fact that she did that.

"It's ok, I mean, it's not like you guys knew or anything. And besides, the past is the past, and we can't change it," I shrug and smile at her. "I'm just glad things are looking up now."

"I'm happy for you Faith, I really am," Willow says, smiling and hopping off the counter. "You deserve a happy life after all you've been through, and I don't think either of you would do anything to hurt each other. Oh, I'm so happy. Ken's gonna be thrilled!"

"Hey, slow down Red," I say, putting my hands up. "Nothing's actually happened yet, remember?"

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just so excited." Yeah, I noticed; the bouncing up and down kinda gave it away. "Why aren't you all excited? You just found out that the girl you've been crushing on for like, what, six years, probably likes you too."

"Oh, believe me, I am," I reassure her. If my head had a light in it that was controlled by my emotions, Willow would probably be blinded right now. "I just don't wanna get my hopes too high, makes rejection less harsh."

She nods sadly, understanding. "Well we should probably go back," she suggests, taking my upper arm. "Food's probably cold now."

I just nod and we head back to the table.

As we sit down, B smiles at us. "What have you two been up to? It's been like ten minutes and you're both glowing."

"Uh, sorry 'bout that. We were talking," Will says and goes back to her fries, um, I mean chips. I'm not used to the whole different words thing yet.

"What about?"

"Oh, nothing," I say quickly, blushing a bit. Damn it, I hate it when I blush. Willow's trying to hide her smile behind a 'chip', yeah, that's working great for her.

"Hey, secrets don't make friends," B whines and pouts. I love it when she pouts, I just wanna take that lip and, ok, stop now Faith. Control is a good thing.

"Well, maybe we aren't your friends," I tease, and she just pouts more. I love teasing B, it's so much fun, especially when it results in blushing or pouting. "Ah, B, just kidding. You know we love ya. Still won't tell though."

She jumps slightly when I say that, all surprised and shit, and she's blushing a bit now too. It makes me feel all tingly; I think what Red told me really is true!