Spike rushed into Faith's room seconds after hearing her scream, dressed in his Wile. E. Coyote boxers and with his hair sticking up at all angles, and saw her sitting on her bed, her knees brought up to her chest and her arms around them. In the moonlight he could see her shaking. The black crop top, she borrowed from Liz as well as a pair of
Low rider black shorts to wear that night, was soaked through with sweat. Spike could hear her silently sobbing in the moonlight filled room. He cautiously walked towards his shaking friend, as he remembered he she didn't like to be comforted as she saw that as a sign of weakness and how violent she could get. He slowly sat on the bed next to her and slowly put his arms around her. Faith tensed up a bit before putting her head on his bare shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Faith, Shhh. What happened luv?" Spike asked once she stopped sobbing. He noticed that her hair was also damp from her sweat and that her tears now covering his bare chest. She looked up at him at the sound of his voice. Looking terrified when she realised whom it was and quickly jumped from his arms and off the bed.
"Faith …Relax. You know I won't hurt you. Just tell me what happened?" Spike asked gently his eyes drifting up and down her. He noticed a jagged scar just above her low rider shorts and wondered where she got that. 'Last time I saw her in a cropped wife beater and low rider shorts she didn't have scars. Now she had five, two on either wrists and the one on her stomach.' Spike now felt more sorry for her than ever before. 'This jagged scar looked like a knife had gone right into her extremely sexy and flat stomach.'
Faith noticed that Spike was staring at her scarred stomach and realised how little she was wearing and quickly went to put on the bathrobe that Spike lent her.
"Come on Faith…you were never shy about your body and I've seen it more than a dozen times…with less clothes." Spike said jokingly then his voice turned to concerned "Faith luv please tell me what happened?" Faith just stared at him and leaned against the wall then slowly she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
"Spike…" Faith said, her voice barely above a whisper, "please could you just go…I want to be left alone" Spike was about to refuse to leave, Faith could tell by the look in his eyes. "Please" she said with pleading eyes. Tears threatening to spill again. Spike nodded, got off the bed and turned to leave but just as he reached the door he turned towards Faith again and said "Faith if you need anything…or if you need to talk…just uh…come and get me or yell which ever. Savvy?" after Faith nodded he left to get a few more hours of sleep before his alarm went off. As soon as Spike left Faith found herself slowly drifting back to sleep. She silently hoped that she wouldn't have that dream anymore.
The next morning Faith woke up to the smell of breakfast being made, she smiled slightly as she remembered the smell…'Pancakes' Faith thought cheerfully then she realised that she hadn't had pancakes since her parents died when she was fourteen and she also noticed that she wasn't in the bed but on the floor sitting against the wall. 'But why wasn't I …' Faith begun to remember the events of the previous night the dream, the nearly naked Spike running into her room, him holding her, her panic at that and finally her sliding the floor and asking Spike to leave. She couldn't believe how vulnerable she made herself seem to the person who meant the most to her. Tears started to stream down her face once more. She roughly wiped them away, got up and left the room to eat.
Spike was sitting at the table, a plate piled up with pancakes and a pot of coffee in front of him, two plates were on the table, one in front of Spike the other in the seat opposite him. He turned his head toward her, as he heard her open the door, his eyes full of concern. Faith quickly put on her face trying to make it look like nothing happened, although her eyes had given it away, they were sad, scared and vulnerable all at the same time. Spike had only seen that look in her eyes one other time. Last night.
'Damn she's still upset but she's trying to prove she's ok … same old Faith' Spike thought.
"Hey lover. What's for breakfast?" Faith said her voice still raspy as she just woke up.
"Like you can't see," Spike said jokingly.
She sat opposite Spike and dug in. Spike smiled at her appetite, she saw him smile and smiled back.
"Luv…you haven't changed at all have you?…well besides that scar" he said innocently. Her smile evaporated and was replaced with a frown, but continued to eat. Spike, sensing he shouldn't have said that, started to eat. Faith finished her food and got up and walked into the bathroom but not before she heard Spike call out to her.