Buffy and Tara were walking towards the coffee shop hand-in-hand. They had been dating for almost two months now, and things were going remarkably well, in Buffy's opinion. High School was finally over, and Buffy was looking forward to all the time they'd have together, especially the sleepovers.

"Oh, hey. That's my mom." Buffy stops and motions in the direction of a woman walking towards them on the other side of the street. Buffy bit her lip nervously. "I know we didn't exactly plan this, but do you want to go say hi?"

Tara was stuck frozen and could not manage to respond to Buffy's question in any way.

"It's totally OK. We don't have to talk to her." Buffy frowned as she watched Tara retreat from her. "Tara?"

When Joyce ducked into a shop, Tara could finally breathe but only for a brief moment. "I'm so sorry, Buffy."

"It's no big. Way too early for meeting parents. I get it." Buffy tried to stay relaxed and not freak out over Tara's response.

"No. I mean… I'm sorry. I… I can't." Then Tara abruptly turned and practically ran away from Buffy.

Buffy took two quick steps in Tara's direction before she stopped herself. Tara obviously didn't want to see her anymore, and even though Buffy didn't at all understand what had just happened - she did know it was her fault. Tara was probably better off without her anyway - she'd definitely be safer.

Buffy had tried to hide it, but the previous night's patrol had really freaked her out. If Faith hadn't been with them, Tara might have gotten hurt, and Buffy would never forgive herself. Now she wouldn't have to worry about Tara's safety.

"Buffy?"

"Mom?" She managed to choke out the word as her eyes misted over.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Everything is fine." Buffy managed to keep eye contact and hide any pain from her voice. She took in a breath and regained her composure, focusing on knowing that she always knew this would happen and that Tara would be safer now.

"Are you sure?" Joyce knew she didn't always know how to read her daughter, but it was clear that she was deeply upset about something. She thought it might have to do with the girl Buffy had been walking with and wondered if she was the girlfriend she was yet to meet.

"Totally. What's up? Aren't you supposed to be relaxing today?" Buffy linked arms with her mother and guided her over to the Jeep.

"I am relaxing - shopping is relaxing." Joyce grinned and held up the bag in her other hand.

Buffy smiled back and leaned into her mother a bit. "No argument here."

Buffy was doing a fine job of pretending like her world hadn't just imploded - that is until evening rolled around and it was time to patrol.

"Where's your girl?" Faith looked around the crowd.

"My what?" Buffy asked, and Faith rolled her eyes.

"C'mon. T's been hanging with us every night before patrol."

"Guess she didn't feel like it tonight." Buffy shrugged and leaned against the railing.

Faith eyed her suspiciously. "Are we still on for Saturday? Going to that club in LA?"

Buffy frowned but quickly shook that away. "Yeah, we're still on."

"T is gonna drive - right?" Faith put her back to the railing, hoping to get a better look at Buffy's face.

"Oh." Buffy had forgotten that part. Tara was the only one with a license. "Maybe not then."

"Damn, I was really looking forward to that too." Faith's disappointment was real, she could have used the change of scenery.

Buffy didn't respond, just leaned further over the railing under the pretense that she was scoping out a vampire.

Faith moved a little closer, wanting to be sure she could stop her if Buffy decided to take a header off the balcony. Buffy rocked forward a little more, pivoting on her hips, causing her feet to lift off the ground. Faith stayed tense and ready while trying to appear casual. After a few minutes, Buffy moved away from the railing, and Faith sighed out in relief.

"Wanna dance for a bit before we go patrol?" Faith asked hopefully. Faith had no idea what Buffy's problem was, and she didn't really care. It was easy enough to deduce that Tara had dumped Buffy. Faith was surprised they lasted as long as they did.

"Sure." Buffy shrugged with no emotion and headed for the stairs. Faith followed closely behind, trying to decide how she felt about this new development.

On the one hand, she had all of Buffy to herself again - on the other hand, this Buffy wasn't really 'Buffy' at all. Considering Faith mostly found Buffy to be stuck up and annoying, she couldn't be sure which one she liked better.

When two hours later, Buffy was sliding her hand into Faith's pants as they aggressively made-out against the wall - Faith decided not to question it.

It only took her about half a second to come to her senses and stop Buffy before things went all the way over the line.

"Let's go take out some vamps." Faith said with a smile and dragged Buffy out of the alley and towards the closest cemetery.

When Faith found Buffy dancing with a dorky guy the next night - she decided it was time to do something.

"What is the matter with you?" Faith dragged Buffy away from the crowd and threw her out the door to the back alley.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy shoved Faith away, and when she took a swing at her - Faith had had enough.

Faith deflected the blow and used Buffy's momentum to shove her face-first into the brick wall. She held on to Buffy's fist and used her other hand to control Buffy's head. "You get one of those." Faith pressed Buffy roughly into the wall and twisted her arm to keep her there. "You do that again, and we have a problem. Got me?"

Buffy had just enough room to nod her agreement, and Faith let her go.

"Good, now go the fuck home and get your shit together." Faith couldn't take it anymore. It was driving her crazy that she cared so much about how upset Buffy was.

Buffy didn't look in Faith's direction once she was released. She simply stalked off with her head down.

The next night, Buffy was back to being pre-Tara Buffy. Faith found this version of Buffy much more tolerable. This past week has forced Faith to face facts. Buffy was important to her, and she wanted her friend to be happy. Faith had never had a friend before - not one like Buffy. Faith wanted her friend back.

Buffy still wouldn't answer Faith's questions about Tara, and after a few days, Faith gave up and accepted that this would just be the way things were. Faith began to suspect the real reason Buffy wasn't answering her questions was because she didn't actually know why Tara had dumped her.

Slaying with Buffy had become distinctly less fun for Faith. There were no more quips or carefree jokes as they patrolled. Buffy was taking more risks and being less strategic as they fought. Buffy also stopped putting any effort into training and was starting to be ruder and ruder to everyone.

At first, Faith liked these changes. Buffy was far less annoying and Faith never particularly cared about being polite. The longer it went on, though, the more she realized that all the things she pretended to hate about Buffy were the things that made her a good slaying partner and a good friend.

Faith opted not to confront Buffy, but she knew it was time to do something more drastic.

Tara walked through the hallway with her head down, and her books held protectively in front of her chest. She started to relax slightly as she unlocked and opened her door.

"Blondie." Faith's cold voice called out from behind her, and Tara panicked. There was no time to react as Faith forced her way into the room.

"Fa…" Tara started, but she couldn't get the word out.

"B tells me everything. Whether or not she wants to. Whether or not I want her to," Faith starts. "It took me a while to figure out why she wouldn't tell me why you dumped her."

Tara's eyes widened, and she backed as far away as possible.

"You didn't even tell her, did you? You just what? Ghosted her? that's pretty fucking cold."

Tara would try to defend herself but didn't have any idea how to.

"B is too chicken-shit to ask you what the fuck happened." Then she rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles. "But I'm not."

"I..." Tara started to stutter again, then did her best to calm down. Faith never seemed to have patience for her stutter, and she definitely wouldn't now. "Not trying to hurt her."

"Don't give a fuck about what you are trying to do." Faith suddenly had a dagger in her hand - Tara wasn't sure where it came from. "I want to know why. Right now." She twirled the dagger around casually as if she didn't even realize she was holding it.

"I..." Tara floundered, and Faith lost her patience.

"You got two fucking seconds to convince me you're not the piece of shit you seem to be." The dagger in Faith's hand stops moving, and somehow that was even more terrifying. "B says you're this amazing person, so I don't get how you could have hurt her like this."

Tara opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"Is she wrong?" Faith looks almost forlorn now and looks down at her hands. "She says I'm not a bad person. If she's wrong about you, maybe she's wrong about me too?" Faith's grin was almost feral, and Tara was pretty sure she had never been in so much danger.

Tara wiped at her tears and tried to ignore how terrified she was. "Her mom is going to die."

"Oh." Faith frowned and put the knife away.

Now that Tara said it out loud, she felt a little more relaxed. "I shouldn't have run away like I did - I just... I can't go through that again."

Faith wasn't sure what to make of this turn of events at all. "How is she going to die?"

"You believe me?" Tara looked up, perplexed.

"'Course I do." Faith replied with a head tilt. With all the weird shit they see daily, Tara knowing someone was going to die didn't seem weird at all to her.

"I don't know how or when exactly. I just know it will be within the next two years." With Faith's reaction, Tara felt like even more of an idiot for not realizing she would be believed. A large part of why it had been so painful the other times was that no one would believe her, and then they blamed her when what she said came true.

Faith considered the implication of what Tara was saying. "There has to be a way to stop it."

"I've tried… there's no changing it." Tara shook her head sadly, and Faith chuckled. Even though she had known it was pointless, Tara had spent countless hours trying to find a spell or some other way to help Buffy's mother. There was nothing - magic cannot be used to prevent a natural death.

"You don't know B." Then she opened the door. "Well, you coming or what?" She said it as a question, but Tara knew that it definitely wasn't.

Tara was practically trembling as she sat at the library table and explained what little she knew about what was going to happen to Joyce. Her hands were clasped tightly together on her lap, and her eyes were fixed on the small patch of table in front of her.

Tara didn't even know all the people she was surrounded by. Faith hadn't bothered to introduce her. She guessed from context that the woman was Ms. Calendar and the British guy might be Wesley. But there were also two others that she had no idea about.

The bout of excited chatter that started up as soon as she finished talking shocked her. They instantly believed her and began theorizing and planning.

"Hey," Buffy called to her softly, and Tara looked up to see the slayer reaching out. Buffy pulled her hand back as soon as she realized what she was doing. "Thank you for telling us about this. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

Tara's heart was breaking all over again. Seeing Buffy hurt so much more than she had expected it to. She knew she'd never love anyone as much as she loved Buffy.

"Maybe she can help." Faith suggested, having tuned out the nerd squad's research talk.

"Have you ever tried any spells to help narrow down what might be happening?" Ms. Calendar asked before Tara could figure out how to respond to either slayer.

The answer to Ms. Calendar's question was complicated, and Tara was feeling a little too overwhelmed to answer it.

"Guys, give Tara a break," Buffy suggested and stood up. "Let's just do some research and maybe come up with a list of questions that she can answer later - if she wants to."

Tara was very confused by Buffy's behavior. She had expected that she'd be furious at Tara, but she was still trying to protect her even after everything.

Buffy was beyond exhausted and hasn't been able to process anything they've talked about so far. She had never expected to have to talk to Tara again, and she was refusing to think about it. "I need to get home." With that, Buffy walked out of the library.

"Buffy!" Tara called after her when she was almost to the exit of the school.

Buffy stopped with her hand on the door and took in a deep breath before turning around.

"I'm so sorry." Tara gasped out, really wishing she had something that might convey how terrible she felt.

Buffy furrowed her brow, not quite sure what Tara was apologizing for. "Did you need a ride back to campus? I'm sure Ms. Calendar or someone else will take you."

"What? No." Tara was taken aback by Buffy's vacant response to her. Buffy was acting like they didn't even know each other, and Tara couldn't stand it. "Can we please talk?"

"I have to get home," Buffy said again in the same monotone way she did earlier.

"Can I walk with you?" Tara asked, desperately hoping to find any way to connect with Buffy.

Buffy shrugged non-committedly and opened the door. Buffy kept a brisk pace, and Tara struggled to keep up with her. It didn't take too long before she gave up trying. It wasn't fair to ask Buffy to slow down, and she'd never be able to keep up.

"I'll walk with you." Faith was suddenly by her side, and Tara almost jumped in surprise.

"Maybe I should give her some space?" Tara asked with no prompting from Faith.

"Pretty sure you've already done enough of that." Faith was quiet for a few minutes, and Tara was grateful for the silence. "Do you want her back?"

"Yes," Tara answered without thinking. "I mean… I don't think she even wants to talk to me. She's probably moved on by now anyway."

Faith groaned in annoyance. "Don't be stupid. That girl pined over you for all that time. You can't seriously think she's just gonna 'move on.'" Faith scoffed and rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe how stupid they were being. It was just further evidence to her that 'love' and relationships were total bullshit.

"I wouldn't blame her if she did.". Tara frowned. "maybe I'm wasting her time to even try explaining."

Faith stopped walking and grabbed Tara's arm to turn her around. "Cut that shit out right now. B is not like that, and you know it."

"Why do you care anyway? I thought you were hoping we'd break up." Tara couldn't tell if she was more afraid or angry at this moment. To her mind, Faith had no right to be angry about the breakup.

Faith finally released Tara's arm and let out an annoyed grunt. "I really thought you were smarter than all this. Maybe you're right, and you are wasting her time. Even worse - now you're wasting mine." Faith stalked away, and it took Tara a moment to chase after her.

"I'm sorry… I don't mean to be wasting anyone's time." Tara was surprised that Faith stopped and turned to face her. "Look - I know Buffy is… well, she's incredible. I never felt good enough for her, and I never meant to hurt her. If she'd give me another chance - I'd take it in a heartbeat. All I want now, though, is a chance to try and explain why I left the way I did."

"Never felt good enough?" Buffy's voice called from behind Tara, and she whipped around in confusion.

"Buffy?!" She looked back over her shoulder to see a smug-looking Faith who started to walk away again. "How did you get behind us?"

Buffy didn't answer the question. She just stared at Tara. "Was it my fault? Did I make you feel not good enough? Is that why you left?"

"No!" Tara tried to close the gap, but Buffy backed up. "You were - are - amazing. It wasn't you that made me feel not good enough. It's just that you are the most incredible person I've ever known… and I'm just…. Me." Tara felt utterly pathetic and could no longer meet Buffy's eyes. She wanted this chance to explain, but she realized she didn't have an explanation.

"Well, I happened to lo… really like you." Buffy quickly amended. Buffy almost grinned as she met Tara's eyes, but her mouth couldn't quite manage it.

"Do you think we could try again?" Tara asked hopefully, taking a step forward and smiling when Buffy didn't back away.

"Maybe we need to slow down." Buffy stopped Tara before she could really get close. "Like be friends first?"

"Oh." Tara tried to swallow her disappointment. She knew what that meant.

"You two are such morons." Faith called out. "The last thing you want is to be her friend, B. Besides, you basically just told her to fuck off, so you'll never see her again."

"Faith," Buffy warned, but it's not like Faith cared.

"I can't take another minute of you moping around. So just get back together already." Faith walked away again, and this time Buffy watched to make sure she was actually gone.

"Don't listen to her," Buffy said and tried to force a smile. "I really do want to be your friend."

"OK," Tara said with confusion - she wasn't sure why Buffy was lying. She really wondered about Faith. It seemed like the girl wanted everyone to think she didn't care when she obviously did. "I should go."

"Shit." She heard Buffy say. "That totally sounded like I was blowing you off. I didn't mean it that way."

"It's OK, really." Tara started to back away, but Buffy moved to stop her.

"No, it's not OK. Look." Buffy sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I spent over a year thinking about you and imagining what being with you would be like."

Tara waited, knowing anything she said now would just make things worse.

"When I said I wanted to be friends, I meant that I wanted to get to know you and not the you I've imagined." Buffy was sure she sounded like a crazy person, but she didn't really know what else to say at the moment. In her head, it made sense. She had put too much pressure on the relationship. If they could start over, then maybe she wouldn't fall so hard this time. Then maybe when Tara left her again, it wouldn't be so devastating.

Tara wasn't sure how, but she actually felt worse now. A few minutes ago, Buffy had been about to confess her love, and now they didn't even know each other.

"But that's stupid." Buffy chastised herself. "I am aware that we haven't spent all that much time together. But I can't help how I feel about you. If you want to, I want to get back together. Maybe with slightly more talking than before." Buffy blushed but managed to keep eye contact.

"Please." Tara eagerly accepted the offer.

"Good." Buffy grinned a genuine grin and then shook her head as she remembered how they had gotten to this point. "I really do need to get home now. Are you OK to get back to the dorms?"

"Oh." Tara was confused by Buffy sending her away and started to worry about how back together they actually were.

"I mean - you are welcome to come with me. But my mother will be there, and I didn't think you'd want to see her."

"Are you planning on telling her now?" Tara asked nervously. She had been so relieved when everyone believed her that she didn't really think about how hard this part was going to be.

"I... I don't know. Does it make sense to tell her if there's nothing we can do?" Buffy's eyes were starting to water, and she wiped at her face. "I don't actually expect you to answer that. I just… I don't know what to do."

Tara hated how much pain Buffy was in. "I'm sorry I couldn't just ignore it. I shouldn't have told you."

Buffy felt like they were going around in circles, and she just didn't have the energy for that. The only thing she was really sure about was that she wanted to spend more time with her mother before it was too late.

"I'll come with you." Tara surprised both of them with her abrupt answer. "If you want me to - I mean."

Buffy smiled and held out her hand, which Tara gladly accepted. When they arrived at Buffy's house, they stood on the porch holding hands for several minutes before Buffy felt brave enough to move forward.

Tara tugged on her hand and pulled her back. "Whatever happens next - I will be here for you. I promise that I won't run off again - no matter what." Tara really hoped she could keep that promise.

"Thank you." Buffy smiled, and they kissed briefly before Buffy opened the door.

Joyce was in the process of making dinner when they entered the kitchen.

"Hi, mom," Buffy said and slid into one of the stools - motioning for Tara to do the same.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," Joyce responded without turning around.

"Are you OK?" Buffy mouthed to Tara, who sat very nervously next to her. Tara nodded and forced herself to relax. "Hey, mom?"

"Yeah?" She finally turned around and couldn't quite keep the shock off her face of seeing Tara sitting in her kitchen. Her eyes darted back over to Buffy, but she held her tongue. Her instinct to protect her daughter was powerful at the moment.

Joyce had no idea what had happened between the couple. All she knew was that her daughter had lost that spark that made her 'Buffy.' She hadn't been able to get her daughter to explain anything about the breakup. She wouldn't have even known about it if it wasn't for Faith.

"Don't be mad at her." Buffy didn't at all miss her mother's reaction and quickly jumped to Tara's defense.

Tara was stuck frozen in terror - she hadn't thought of this. Of course, Buffy's mom would hate her - how could she not? And now, what was she supposed to do? She wanted to leave, but she had promised Buffy she would stay.

Buffy reached for her hand, "I'll be right back." Buffy said to her mother before leading Tara upstairs to her bedroom. "Are you OK?"

Tara chuckled. "You're worried about me being OK?"

"Well, yeah." Buffy grinned. "I should have realized how my mother was going to react. Sorry for not handling that better."

"She has every right to hate me. I was so awful to you." Tara's heart was sinking as she realized that there was no way back from this.

Buffy closed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her forehead against Tara's. Tara wrapped her arms around Buffy's waist and just let the slayer comfort herself. After a few minutes, Buffy pulled back and gently caressed Tara's cheek.

"I'll be right back. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"I…" Tara frowned, completely unsure of herself.

"If you want to go, I'm sure Faith is lurking around somewhere to walk you home," Buffy said with a grin.

"She loves you." Tara blurted out, and Buffy chuckled.

Buffy started running her fingers over Tara's scalp, and Tara frowned in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

Buffy laughed and brought her hands down to Tara's waist. "Checking for any head-lumps that might explain why you would say such a crazy thing."

Tara couldn't help but laugh herself. "I think she doesn't have any idea how to care about people - but if you think about everything she's done for you. I don't know what else it could be."

Buffy paused to think but frowned in response. "You're probably right about her not knowing how to care about people. I guess she has been doing her best to be here for me lately. She even moved in a few weeks ago."

"She lives here?" Tara couldn't keep the jealousy out of her voice, and Buffy chuckled.

"If you can call it that. She's barely ever here, but she did move her stuff into the spare room."

Tara tried to relax and remind herself that Faith was the whole reason they were even together right now.

"So - dinner?" Buffy asked again with raised eyebrows. "I won't fall apart if you leave."

Tara is wounded by Buffy's comment, and she's even less sure of what she should do.

"For fucks sake." Faith's exasperated voice calls from the hallway, and then she opens Buffy's door without knocking. "You're staying - B's mom makes a wicked meatloaf."

"I guess I'm staying for dinner." Tara shook her head at Faith's antics and leaned her head against Buffy's shoulder. Exhaustion was beginning to set in, and she wondered if she could even stay awake through dinner.

"Great, I'm just going to go talk to my mom." Buffy was a little nervous now that Faith was standing in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest.

"Relax, B. I'm not gonna hurt your girl." Faith says in a voice that makes Tara more than a little apprehensive. Tara sits up straight, trying to think up any spells that might help her if Faith did intend to harm her.

The problem was that she barely knew any spells at all. That was definitely something she hoped to work on. She was very interested in Ms. Calendar, and whatever a techno-pagan was. There had to be something the other witch could teach her that would help keep the slayers safe.

"I didn't think you would," Buffy says, and Tara is forced to sit up straight as Buffy stands. Buffy down at Tara and leans in to kiss her. "I need to go talk with my mom. Try to relax until dinner is ready."

Tara nods and doesn't think it is worth trying to explain that there was no chance of her relaxing. On a positive note, her terror was pushing away her exhaustion. Buffy smiles and leaves the room, brushing past Faith, who hadn't bothered to move at all from the doorway.

Tara keeps her head down, hoping that Faith will just leave now that Buffy is gone.

"I don't love her." Faith breaks the silence after a few minutes.

Tara looks up at her in alarm, having no idea how Faith might have heard what she said. "OK."

Tara agreeing seems to make Faith even more upset, and she takes an aggressive step into the room with her fists balled at her side. "I mean it. I do not fucking love her!" Faith is keeping the volume of her voice low - Tara can barely hear her.

"It's not a bad thing to love people, Faith." Tara watches as Faith tries to get control of herself. "She loves you too. You are her family."

"Bullshit." Faith says, but her anger seems to be gone. She seems more afraid than anything.

"It's not. Why else would she put up with you?" Tara says with a wry grin and is very relieved when Faith laughs.

"OK - maybe you got a point there."

"I won't take her away from you." Tara guesses why there has always been so much tension between them.

Faith's face hardens, and Tara is worried that she just said the wrong thing.

"Not that I think I could!" Tara quickly tries to correct her mistake. "Just that I know how important you are to each other, and I would never try to get in the way of that."

Faith enters the room and shuts the door behind her. Faith is now only a few steps away, and Tara hopes it's not evident that she's shaking. "You already did. You fucking broke her. You took away everything that made her B." Faith practically snarls the words.

Tara is shocked by the sadness that Faith can't quite mask with anger. "I..." She starts to apologize, but no apology seems strong enough. "I know it might not mean anything to you, but I broke me too. Leaving her like that was the hardest thing I've ever done."

Faith moves back slightly, staring into Tara's eyes. Tara has never felt more exposed. "And stupidest," Faith adds with a grin - all tension is gone, and Tara feels like she can breathe again.

Faith's mood swings make Tara a little dizzy, but she's grateful Faith seems to be joking with her. "Yes - definitely the stupidest."

Faith grins, and she flops onto the bed, leaning against the headboard. Tara tries not to think about how comfortable Faith is in her girlfriend's bed. "So long as we're clear. You do anything stupid like that again..." Faith doesn't finish the threat, but Tara doesn't need her to.