That was the night the dreams came back. Not the dreams that I had been sharing with Buffy during the last few weeks; I only wish. No, it's the one about my mom. When she got out of rehab, she hated me. Something about the fact that Nonnina loved me and never loved her; something stupid like that. But it pissed her off to no end, so beatings became the nightly pre-bedtime ritual. In my dream, I'm always curled up in the corner crying in vain for her to stop. I was so weak then, I don't ever want Buffy to know this side of me.
Suddenly my eyes shoot open and I can hear myself crying, just like in the dream, and I'm sweating all over. Then the door opens and I see Buffy standing in the doorway. She rushes over to the bed and wraps me in her arms.
"Oh God, Faith, are you ok?" she asks quietly, but harshly, like she's scared to death about me; which she probably is.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I try to sound it, but she just pulls me tighter. "It was just a dream, I'm used to it now."
"But it was so real, not even my Slayer dreams have ever been like that."
"Well, it was real. But that was a long time ago," I reassure her.
"You've been crying Faith," she says, she sounds wicked freaked. "Please Faith, talk to me about it."
"Not now Buffy, it's late," I say quietly. "I don't wanna talk now."
"Ok," she says sadly, getting up to leave.
"No, don't leave," I plead quickly and a little louder. She stops at the door and comes back to the bed, lying back down next to me. "Please, just hold me. I don't want us to talk now, I just want us to sleep."
"Ok," she says, understanding. She wraps her arms around me again and pulls me close to her. I rest my head on her chest and she kisses the top of my head.
We're silent for a while, but neither of us can go back to sleep yet. So I say something: "I just wish that she was alive after I was called so I could've shown her how much pain she caused me."
"No you don't," Buffy assures me. Funny, I though it was only right to want revenge for something like this. "'Cause then you would've been just like her and she would've won."
"Why, Buffy?" I ask. "How can any mother hate her own child that much?"
"I don't know," she says, kissing me softly. "There are so many things that I don't understand. We're supposed to protect the world from demons, but people can cause so much more pain to another person than any demon ever could. Sometimes I don't know what it is we fight for, it just doesn't seem worth it. But then I realize that out there somewhere there may be a girl like you who has been called. So we helped her."
"I love you Buffy," I say so quietly that if Buffy was anyone else- meaning: non-slayer- she wouldn't have heard. Then I close my eyes again and snuggle closer to her.
"I know," she says and closes her eyes too. Cookie dough
"How can you be hungry B?" I laugh tiredly.
"No, I'm not hungry," she laughs at me. I just look at her, confused. "When Angel came to Sunnydale to give me the amulet, I told him that I wasn't ready to love anyone yet, anyone at that time meaning him or Spike," she explains. "I told him that I was cookie dough."
"Cookie dough?" I ask, amused. "You had to compare yourself to the oh-so-yummy dessert?"
"Yes, well, maybe I was a little hungry at the time. You know Slayers, we always think with our stomachs," she laughs a little, then continues. "No, actually, what I meant was: I wasn't ready yet. I need to be baked." But I love cookie dough. "Faith, please, stay with me. I need to baked, and then I can be a warm and gooey cookie, then I'll be ready to love again. Faith?"
"Yeah?" I look up at her.
"I would love it if you were the one to bake me."
"Would I get to eat you afterwards?" I just couldn't help myself.
"Faith!" she exclaims, moving her hands around to tickle my stomach.
"Hey, I'm tired," I laugh, squirming to try to get away from her, but she has me tight. "You handed it to me on a silver platter babes, I couldn't not take it."
"Weren't we going to not talk?" she asks, and I smile up at her as she stops tickling me.
"Yeah, I think that was the original plan," I smirk. "And I think I know the perfect way to fix it, too."
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
So I kiss her. It's a way to make us not talk, right? And she doesn't seem to be complaining.
"That was nice," she whispers as she pulls away. "Can we not talk some more?"
"Shut up, B," I whisper back and pull her into another kiss. This one's really soft and slow. Hey, I am tired after all.
"Good night Faith." She brushes some stray hair behind my ear and rests her cheek on the top of my head.
"Night Buffy," I say with a smile. Wow! I'm sleeping in the arms of Buffy Summers, I never though that this day would ever come. But it has, and it's so much more wonderful than I ever imagined. What did I do to deserve this?
Shhh, Faith, don't think now, just sleep.
I can do that, I think.
After that I fall asleep, and I don't dream all night, at least, not really. It's like I'm swimming in Buffy. Everything's white, and I can smell her, and feel her, and hear her heart beating and her shallow breathing, and I'm sure if I were to open my mouth, I would've been able to taste her as well. I'm surprised I ever got to sleep, but then again, I was tired.
When I open my eyes in the morning, I realize that we've moved. Buffy has turned around and I have my arms wrapped around her. I smile as I smell her hair; a smell that is all Buffy, no one else could ever smell that good.
"Morning beautiful," I whisper as I feel her move in my arms. I had hoped that she would've stayed asleep so I could just watch her for another hour or so, but I guess she can sense that I'm up.
"Morning," she repeats. I can tell that she's smiling 'cause when she smiles it's like everything around her lights up.
"You two up yet?" Will asks as she sticks her head through the door.
"Yet? What time is it?" she asks huskily. Damn, that was hot! "Faith! I mean, what time is it?"
"It's after ten," Will scolds. "C'mon, you guys gotta get out of bed."
"No, I never wanna leave," Buffy whines, snuggling up closer to me. Oh, I bet I just missed a pout. Damn. "Never, ever… and not even another apocalypse can make me."
"Faith!" Will scolds me now. Wait, what did I do? "I thought that you guys were gonna take things slow. What happened to not trying to get into her pants last night?"
"You think we did the down and dirty last night Red? Wow, someone has her mind in the gutter." I got her to blush, but with Will it's so easy. "And I don't think she's wearing pants." I lift up the covers a bit and see that she's just wearing a t-shirt and panties. "Nope, not pants."
"Faith!" Now Buffy's scolding me. "Stop making Wills blush. Yeah, it is cute, but give her a break."
"Wait, you think Red's cute?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, and now Buffy's the one blushing. "Do I have competition now?"
"No, no competition," Buffy says. She turns around in my arms and gives me a quick kiss. "But you have to admit, Willow is pretty cute, especially when she blushes."
"Isn't this one of those conversations you could have mentally?" Will asks, blushing even more.
"Now who's making her blush, B?"
"Ok, I'm gonna leave now," she says, pointing out the door. "But could you two hurry, please?"
"But don't you think she's cute Faith?" Buffy asks again as Wills turns to leave. I can just picture the eye roll. "Well?"
"Yeah, Buffy, she's very cute. But not as cute as you," I say huskily, throwing in my patented half smile just for kicks. "And I must say B, the hot pink and lime green, plaid panties- they blow my world away. Not every girl can pull off that look, but for you it really works."
"You've been working on that sarcasm thing, haven't you?" she asks smugly.
"You think I'm lying?" I ask, shocked. "I'd never lie to you babes."
"C'mon Faith, we should probably get up," Buffy says sadly. "We need to be ready for tonight."
"Ah, the Queen can wait," I assure her. "Besides, we don't even have to be there 'til what, eight? We've got all day to get ready."
"Ok," she agrees. "I love your morning look Faith. The messy hair thing is hot."
"Oh, we're in London, just give it a week and the look will catch on," I play along. "It'll be all the rage all over Europe within a month."
"I'm sure," she smiles at me. Then she moves around a bit so she's laying almost on top of me with her back to me. I wrap my arms around her and lace my fingers with hers on her stomach.
"I wish we could stay like this forever," I whisper in her ear, and I can feel her smiling again. This is so perfect, and for once in my life, I'm gonna do everything in my power not to screw it up.
"Faith?" she asks and tries to look at me.
"Hmm?"
"I don't wanna go back," she whispers.
"Huh?" is all I can manage.
"To LA," she clarifies. "I want to take a break from everything, a long one. I want it to be just you and me for a while: no Dawn, no Scoobies, and certainly no Andrew. Besides, we have a lot of lost time to catch up on."
"I'd like that," I smile. "I've always wanted to travel in Europe."
"After we do this thing with the Queen, we'll decide where to go," she decides. "No matter what happens, what she wants. We'll do what we want for once, just you and me."
"Wow, you're starting to sound like me a bit babes," I laugh a bit. I can picture all the things she can. She's giving me images of us riding through Europe on a motorcycle, and us kiss at various places of historical importance. "I'm really rubbing off on you B, you should be careful."
"But what if I don't want to be careful?" she asks, turning over to kiss me. "That's what I'm trying to say. I'm tired of living by all these stupid rules that have imprisoned me for so long. It sucks, and I just wanna get away from it all."
"Woah, that was deep Buffy, really," I say sarcastically. "You sure you're ready to go rogue? It's a big decision, hard to come back from. I should know."
"Its not going rogue, not really," Buffy tries to assure me, but she seems a little unsure about herself now. "There's lots of slayers now, I just want to get away from it all for a bit. Nothing wrong with that, they can handle themselves for a while."
"Ok, sure, it's a plan," I agree, and she kisses me again. "Now, we should probably get up before Red comes back in here and catches us in a compromising position."
I get up and walk across the room to find some clothes to throw on before we head out. Then I hear Buffy laughing at me. "What?"
"And you made comments about my underwear?" she laughs and I look down to see what she's talking about.
What? It's my normal bed time attire. Wife beater and boxers. "What's wrong with my boxers, B?"
"Silk boxers with the green M&M girl on 'em?"
"So? They were a gift," I state, hands on hips just daring her to mock my boxers. I like these babies; they have sentimental value an' shit.
"From who?" she asks, apparently very interested in who would give me such a gift.
"Dawn," I state and she looks shocked. "She gave them to me when I got back to Sunnydale. Got a problem with that?"
"No, not at all," she assures. "I just find it highly amusing that my sister would get you boxers as a welcome back present, that's all."
"What can I say, the girl's got class," I smile. "And apparently she took part in the effort to get us hooked up."
"Really, that's something, isn't it," Buffy muses. "My own blood, turning against me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, and all I get in return is a very seductive smile from Buffy. Don't change the subject, B, it aint gonna work on me. C'mon B, spill. But she doesn't say a thing; she just turns her smile into a pout and gives me those puppy dog eyes she knows I've never been able to resist, but I'm getting nothing on the mental sharing. Damn it! If Red showed her how to block this thing and left me outta the loop, she's gonna have a fucking pissed slayer to deal with!
"Jesus, you really don't shut up, do ya Faith?" Buffy asks, putting on a cocky grin, but I can feel that she's trying to suppress the old feelings of fear that the idea of me getting pissed off must bring.
Don't worry baby, I won't ever hurt you again. I can see her visibly relax, and now it's my turn to stick on the cocky grin. But that doesn't me you shouldn't fear me, 'cause you should; I think as I start prowling, stalking her like a lioness stalks her prey. I pull my shoulders back, narrow my eyes and I can feel my blood racing, ready for the hunt; and B's not sure if she should be afraid or really turned on, I can feel the conflicting emotions raging within her. Damn, this is great. I smirk, and as her cute confused look graces her face, I pounce. And I kiss her, I kiss her like the world could end any minute –which, with our luck, it could; but we just dealt with the big bad, and it's summer, so all the good little demons should play nice and give us a fucking break.
God Faith! You really gotta cut back on your Willow time.
"Sorry, baby," I mutter as I start kissing up her jaw and to her ear. God B, you taste amazing. I can feel her mouth pulling into a grin under my lips as the hands I didn't notice roaming my back come to my front and I let out a moan as she starts kneading my tits. She gasps as I finally reach her ear and start to suck and nibble at her lobe, and I echo it as I realize that I can feel all the sensations this is sending through her body. God, when we finally fuck, it's gonna be so fucking hot! Buffy moans at the thought and somehow manages to get my mouth back to hers.
I don't even notice that one of her hands is traveling down my stomach until it stops and starts tugging the hem of my wife beater up. "No, not yet baby," I manage as I pull away from the kiss and shake my head. She answers with a grunt and flips us over, so she's straddling my hips and looking down at me. I've never seen such a primal look of hunger on her face before. Spike wasn't lying when he said she'd changed. But the hungry look soon melts away into an understanding smile. The only movement in the room comes from her hand, which has found its way back to the hem of my shirt, as it moves under my tank and starts tracing circles on my skin, sending shivers through my body.
The only thing that breaks us from our moment is when the loud coughing from my doorway finally reaches us. We both look up suddenly; B jumps off me and we both scamper off the bed and frantically start straightening ourselves up when we realize that Giles is standing just outside the room, door wide open. I cautiously look over at Buffy and see her blushing profusely, I know exactly how she feels: like two teens who have just been caught doing the deed by their parents; it has to be the most awkward moment in the world. Buffy's looking down at her feet and my eyes are darting around the room, trying to look anywhere but at Giles or Buffy.
"Good, now that I finally have your attention." He pauses as we both shoot our eyes up at him. Fuck, how long has he been standing there? "Would you please change into something decent and make yourselves presentable; Willow and I are going out to lunch in half an hour and we would love your company."
Then Giles takes off his glasses and begins wiping them as he turns on his heel and walks down the hall. "What am I going to do with those two?" I hear him mutter disapprovingly as he walks off. No one's ever been able to make me feel ashamed like the Brits can, it must be a thing.
"C'mon B, let it out," I encourage when I see that she's about to bust a gut. Then she falls back onto the bed and starts giggling wildly. I shake my head in disbelief and look over at her when I hear the giggling soften, only to see that she's pulled my pillow over her face to muffle the giggles and to make it so I can't see her blushing. I chuckle softly and sit on the edge of the bed, caressing her ankle gently to get her to calm down. When the giggles finally subside, I hear her inhale deeply then let out a contented sigh into my pillow. She rolls over, face still in the pillow, and I move up the bed to lay level with her. She purrs appreciatively as I start to rub her back then she turns her face towards me, smiles brightly and leans in to kiss me gently.
"Mmm, I feel amazing," she whispers as she moves back from me, making me smile. "You're so beautiful, Faith," she states then kisses me again, gently but fully. No one can kiss like my B.
"We should probably do as the Watcher orders," I point out as I break the kiss. "Don't want him catching us again, he might ground us, or something."
Buffy rolls over again so she can stare at the ceiling as she chuckles and blushes lightly. I laugh at her as I get up and give her my hand to help her off the bed. "You're adorable when you blush, you know that B?" I ask as I pull her to me and kiss her again. I nibble on her bottom lip before taking it into my mouth and sucking on it.
"I love the way you kiss me," Buffy whispers into my ear after I pull her to me. Full body Slayer hug, there aint nothin' like it.
"That's good, 'cause I'm never gonna stop. It's my new favorite thing."
"I haven't been here for ages," Giles muses as we step into our new favorite pub.
As soon as we enter, the place goes completely silent. It's kinda nerve racking, as the only bar that's ever given us this kind of welcome was Willy's, and I really didn't think this was that kind of place, y'know? But soon I join B and Red with a shit eating grin as the room goes up in a cheer and we're rushed by several of the men sitting at the bar. I can vaguely make out Giles making his disapproving British tutting noise as at least a dozen men start offering to buy us drinks. Obviously we made quite the impression the other day with the arm wrestling.
Giles chuckles slightly as we finally sit down at a table in the back corner. "Somehow, I think I don't want to know."
"They just love us here is all," I shrug and get a playful shove from Buffy. "You wanna start something here B? 'Cause I'm all about a little PDA."
"Let's not," Giles cuts in before Buffy can answer. "As wonderful as it is that you two are finally…getting along, we came down here to discuss how things are going to go once we get back to LA. I realize that we don't know what the Queen wants yet, but putting that aside; what Willow managed to accomplish is huge. We have no idea how many slayers have been called, or how they'll react. We need to train new watchers, as well as the new slayers. Last night, while you were out, Willow and I began discussing the possibility of building a new Council. Now I know…"
"Hold up a second, G," I cut him off, knowing he could go on about this forever and stick me and B with some huge role in it before we ever mentioned our plan. "Me and B, we kinda talked about this this morning too."
I hesitate for a second, looking over at Buffy to make sure this is really what she wants. She smiles at me then turns back to Giles and Willow to continue where I left off. "We want to take a break, Giles. I'm really just getting back to where I was before Glory, and Faith just got out of jail. We need to work everything out between us and just have some us time before dealing with the girls. We have so much lost time to make up for, and we just need to get away from everything for a while."
"That's perfectly understandable," Giles says after thinking it over for a minute. He looks lovingly at Buffy, like he's finally realized that his daughter is all grown up, and he's extremely proud of how she's turned out. I wish I could have someone love me like that, like a daughter, someone who would be proud of what I've become. Buffy squeezes my hand comfortingly then turns to me.
"I'm so proud of everything you've done this year, Faith," she whispers to me with a small smile. "Helping Angel, then coming to Sunnydale to help me, never expecting anything from us, just wanted to help and make everything right again. It means so much to me, and I'm so proud of what you've become and I'm sure Giles is too, along with everybody else. Never doubt that, ok?"
I nod slowly as I feel a tear roll down my cheek, Buffy wipes it away with her thumb before kissing my other cheek. I really am the luckiest girl alive, I think I'm finally starting to get that.
"So, where are you guys thinking of going?" Will asks as we turn back to them.
I just shrug. "We're not sure," Buffy answers her. "We figured we'd wait until everything tonight, then see what options present themselves."
"That's great!" Will beams. "I can't wait to get back and tell Dawn about everything, she'll be so excited!"
"You mean you didn't tell her last night?" I ask, finally getting my voice back. "I figured as soon you got home last night, you'd be on the phone spilling your guts to Lil' D."
"I was going to wait til we got back," she squeaks. "I thought you'd want to tell everybody, but if you're not going back right away, I can tell them when I get back."
"Please don't say there's money on this," B whines and I just shake my head while Willow blushes. "Oh God, there is, isn't there."
"Maybe, but I swear, Andrew and Dawn started it!" she squeaks again. Those two really are gonna make great watchers, the way they can always manage to get into everybody's business without them knowing about it.
"As thrilling as all this is, let's order lunch. We don't exactly have all day, you know." I'm sure Giles just saved Red from a nervous melt down, he's so thoughtful like that. "After this, we'll have a few hours to kill, but I want you all back at the flat by five; preferably a little earlier, I know how you three get ready and we don't want to be late."
"Yeah, sure G, no big." Gotta cut the guy some slack, I'm sure dealing with the three of us gives him constant migraines. "I was thinking of taking B on a coffee date, I think I saw a Starbucks down the street. We need to talk about some stuff."
"Yes, brilliant idea. A couple of hours of alone time to get my thoughts together before tonight will be lovely." He's probably gonna head straight for his little Watcher's Diary to start working out the whole 'Slayers dating' thing. I'm sure this is all completely fascinating to him.