I'm... What?
(Buffy's POV)
I don't see Faith at school the next morning.
Maybe her alarm didn't go off. I think. I walk up to Faith's friends, who are standing in their usual place just in front of the doors.
"Um, hey, guys. I was just wondering if you'd heard from Faith?"
One of the guys, the one who'd mistakenly called me her newest conquest about a week ago, speaks first.
"Nah. It's probably no big deal she's not here. She probably just overslept, is all. By the way, leather looks good on you." He grins.
"Thanks Jack." I smile back. I've actually grown kind of close to Faith's friends over the past week. They all look the part of the school bully, but they're all actually pretty cool guys. Even Willow and Xander get along with them, and have stopped hanging back whenever I walk up to them.
"No prob. Kinda surprized Faith let that thing out of her sight, though." Jack says, his grin fading for a second, thinking. Then he's almost glaring at me. "She must really care about you. So don't hurt her, okay? Faith's been through a lot as it is. She don't need any heartbreak, okay?"
I'm surprized. All five of the guys are glaring at me, and I'm almost scared. Almost. But then I realize they're just looking out for Faith. They all really care about her. It's almost like they're some close-knit family.
"Don't worry about me. Hurting Faith is the last thing I want to do." I assure them. "I don't know how much more you guys know about her past than me, but I do know some of the gorey details. Like about the Mayor."
"Holy shit, she told you about that?" Pete, another of Faith's friends, asked in astonishment. (Yes, Buffy Anne Summers actually has a vocabulary. I used a four syllable word.)
"Yeah. Last night. She told me the whole story."
"Well then, that's not even half the shit she's been through. That's one of the worse things that's happened to her since she came here, but a lot of shit happened before that, too. Before she started fosterin' with the Hopes."
"Her foster parents' last name is Hope?"
"Yeah."
"So legally, her last name is Hope?"
"Well, it depends, really. I mean, a lot of fosters take their foster parents' last name, but a lot of 'em don't. Faith doesn't. Mainly because, well, hello "I'm Faith Hope"? Really?"
I laugh. "True. Doesn't sound very "Macho Girl"."
The guys laugh at that.
"No, it really doesn't." Jack agrees. "Anyway, take care of that jacket. Anything happens to it, and she'll never forgive you."
"This jacket is really important, isn't it?"
"Yeah." is all any of them will say. They refuse to elaborate. They've all got on solemn expressions now.
But their smiles return half-heartedly when Willow and Xander run up.
"Hey, Buff. Guys." Xander says with a grin.
"Where's Faith?" Willow asks.
"Don't know. She probably overslept, I guess." I reply, and I find I'm hugging Faith's jacket to me now, like I'm trying to protect it.
"Well, that sounds like something she'd do." Willow agrees. "So how'd last night go?"
"It was amazing. She was really sweet, and actually pretty romantic. Then, she walked me home, and she met my mom."
Everyone's eyes just about pop out of their sockets when I say that. Sometimes, it's really frustrating being the new girl, because everyone, even my friends, know my girlfriend better than me.
"What?! She met Mrs. Summers?!" Xander asks incredulously. (And yes, that's a FIVE syllable word! No, my brain does not hurt.)
"Ms, actually. Not Mrs. anymore. The divorce was finalized last week. And yeah, Faith met Mom."
"How did that go?" Jason, one of Faith's friends asks.
"It went... okay... That's actually how I found out about... you know what." I say to the Leathers. That's what I call Faith's friends, 'cause they all wear tons of leather.
"Whoa, so your mom knows about that?"
"Yeah."
"Damn. Look, I meant what I said. Don't hurt her. Faith's, like, our sister. We've all been friends since she came to this town, and we don't take kindly to people screwin' around with her." Jack says, and Willow and Xander just look around, not understanding what's going on now. But also, thankfully, not asking.
"And I meant what I said. Hurting Faith is the last thing I want to do."
The Leathers nod at me, then we all head inside as the morning bell rings.
But, I stop just inside the doorway when my phone rings. I look at the Caller ID. It's Faith.
Excited, I tell Willow and Xander not to wait up for me, that I'm just going to check in with Faith.
"Hello? What's up, Faith?" I ask with a smile as I answer the phone outside.
"Are you Buffy?" A woman's voice asks. She sounds like she's been crying. "Faith's girlfriend?"
"Yeah. That's me." I'm worried now. Why would a crying woman be calling me with Faith's phone?
"My name is Linda Hope. Faith's foster mom. She asked me to call you."
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"She wants to see you. She's been asking for you since she woke up."
"Woke up? What's going on?"
"She was... attacked... Walking home last night. She's in the hospital. She wants you to come to her."
My heart jumps up in my throat, and I fight back tears.
"Is... Is she alright?"
The other end of the line is silent. Then, "Just come to the hospital when you can. Finish school first, if you have to." With that, Linda Hope hangs up.
Finishing school is one thing I do not intend to do today. I call my mom and have her pick me up. She understands that this is more important than learning... triangular... equations. Or whatever the hell they teach in math these days.
...
I'm at the front desk now.
"Hey, what room is Faith Lehane's?" I ask the lady at the desk.
"Are you family?"
"Well... not really. I'm her girlfriend. Her foster mom called and told me to get here when I can."
The lady hits a few keys on her keyboard.
"Second floor, room 213." The lady says a few clicks of the mouse and a couple key taps later.
"Thank you." I say, then head for the nearest elevator, my mom right behind me.
The elevator is taking too long, so I find the stairs instead. Mom sticks with the elevator, and I almost literally bump into her when I pass the elevator on the second floor.
I quickly find room 213 and see two women holding each other, and four other kids standing in the hallway. I guess this is her family.
"Hi, you must be Buffy. I'm Linda." I recognize the woman's voice from the phone.
"And I'm Carrie." her other foster mom said.
"I'm Buffy." I offer, and I turn to look in the window. Faith looks bad.
"She fell asleep again soon after I called you. She asked that we let you in as soon as you get here, whether she's asleep or not." Linda said, reaching for the door handle.
"Um... maybe... maybe I'd better let her sleep?" I suggest.
"Well, let her sleep then, but go on in. She'll want you beside her when she wakes up." Carrie replied, and I nod.
I walk inside the room, and Linda closed the door behind me. It's just me and Faith now.
I sit down next to her bed and let the tears fall. She looks really bad. Her face is all banged up, the doctors have her arm braced, and I'm pretty sure I can see some kind of bandage peeking out from under the sheets around her chest. I think that means her ribs are broken.
I'm crying beside her for almost ten minutes before she wakes up.
"Mmmh?" She moans, her eyes slowly opening, and she tries to sit up. I gently push her back down.
"Don't move, Faith. I'm here. I'm here, Faith." I assure her.
"B?" She moans.
"Yeah. I'm here. Don't worry."
"I'm glad you're here." She says. I nod.
"I'm here, Faith. You can sleep, if you want."
Faith slowly shakes her head. "No. Don't wanna sleep."
I nod. "Okay, baby. Whatever you want... Um... what happened?"
"I don't know." Faith replies. "I was just walkin' home from your place, and some guy jumped me. I don't remember much like that but hurtin'. A lot. I'm still hurtin' a lot."
"I haven't spoken to a doctor yet, but it looks like you'll be fine. I don't know about anything really bad internally, but you've got... a couple bruises on your face... maybe a couple broken ribs... and maybe a broken arm. I haven't moved the blankets or anything to check the rest of you out, but..." Faith smiles.
"Damn. My own girlfriend doesn't even wanna check me out."
I laugh a little.
"Well, maybe I will once your a little less... hospital Faith."
"Hold ya to that." Faith joked. I guess she's not in too much pain, so I can...
"Oof!" She grunts as I throw my arms around her and sob into the blankets.
"I was so worried about you! Don't ever scare me like that again!"
I can feel Faith's chest shaking under me, so I sit up to make sure I didn't hurt her. The bitch is laughing.
"What the hell is so funny?"
"You are. God, you should see yourself right now!" Faith is still laughing, even though she's wincing from the pain of it. "You'd think I was lyin' on my deathbed or somethin'!"
"Well, I don't know! You might be!" I say angrily, though as I watch Faith lying there, laughing, it seems highly unlikely that she's about to die. And so, suddenly, I'm laughing, despite myself.
"Damn, B! Gotta tell you, though, it feels good to have people worry about me. Makes me feel like they actually care about me."
"I do care about you. I lo-... You're my girlfriend, I really like you."
Faith's hesitant. "B... were you about to... were you about to say the "L" word?"
"No." I laugh it off, even though I clearly almost said it.
"Right." Faith agrees. "'Cause just 'cause I'm lyin' in the hospital don't mean either of us is ready for that. We may think we are, but we're not."
"Agreed." I say with a nod.
"But you can feel free to kiss me now." Faith joked.
"Thank God." I joke back, and lean over to kiss her softly on the lips. It only lasts a few seconds, but kissing Faith is one of my favorite things to do.
"Do the guys know?" Faith asks after a few minutes.
"No. Mrs. Linda called me just as everyone was heading in for the morning bell."
"Wait, you mean you ditched school to come see me?"
"Yeah."
"Damn, you didn't need to do that."
"Yes, I did. Mrs. Linda said you were asking for me. Plus, there's no way I would've even been able to concentrate on school if I was worried about you."
"Well, I'm fine now. So get back to school already, okay?"
I recoil. "You... You don't want me here?"
"That's not what I said. But you can't just ditch school every time I get into some trouble."
"Faith, missing one day isn't going to hurt my GPA. And I can make up for today. I'll get my assignments for the day tomorrow and do it tomorrow. But I'm not going to leave you."
Defeated, Faith nods, then changes the subject.
"So you been takin' care of my jacket?" She asks, and I laugh.
"Yeah. Not a scratch on it. No stains, rips, tears, or anything of the sort." I assure her, spinning so she can see.
She licks her lips. "Damn. Leather looks really good on ya, B."
I grin. "That's what Jack said."
She pales. "Was he hittin' on you?"
"Not really, no. Just a little harmless flirting, that's all." I say with a smile.
"Harmless flirting?"
"Faith, I'm a lesbian. That means no guys. Whatsoever. You don't need to worry about Jack stealing me away from you."
Faith relaxes. "Good. He can't have you."
I grin at her possessiveness. "And actually... he and the others kinda warned me not to hurt you." I admit.
She looks away. "Yeah... They're kinda protective, ya know?"
"I think it's great that you have such great friends."
She smiles and looks back at me. She was afraid I was mad at them for it.
"Yeah. They're awesome." She thinks for a second. "Most of the time, anyway." She adds after a minute.
I chuckle.
"You know, your friends are pretty cool too." Faith says.
"You think so?"
"Yeah. They've been really cool about everything since we started goin' out. Sure, there's the occasional comment about my past with girls, but it's nothin' I didn't expect. Plus, Xan knows his superheroes, ya know?"
I laugh. Ever since we started dating, any time she's with me, Willow and Xander, Faith and Xander start doing back and forth about the best superheroes.
"Yeah. I figured you appreciated that. Since that's all the two of you ever talk about."
She smiles sheepishly.
"Sorry. Had a rough life, ya know? Comic books are kind of an escape."
"Don't worry. I get it. To each her own, right? You and Xander have comic books, Willow has... book books, and I have romantic movies."
Faith frowned. "Thought you were gonna say you have me?"
"Well, I do, but you're not just an escape. You're my girlfriend."
"Yeah, but isn't that what the chick always says to the guy in those romantic movies?"
"Well, yeah, but... wait, you watch romantic movies?"
"Not really. Just a lucky guess." Faith says quickly. Too quickly.
I laugh out loud. "Oh my God! My "Macho Girl", super-butch, lesbian biker girlfriend likes romantic movies!"
"Shut up!" Faith hissed, looking around for security cameras. "Damn, B! Not so loud! Gotta rep to protect!"
I hold my hands up in surrender.
"You do realize now that there's no way your getting out of watching chick flicks at the movies, right?"
She groans.
I look out the windows and see that my mom and Faith's foster family is gone. We're alone.
"So... How bad does it hurt?"
"How bad does what hurt?" Faith asks.
"You. How bad does..." I motion to her entire body, "this hurt?"
"It's not as bad, now that you're here to take the edge off."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Faith sighs. "When I talked to the doctor, he said I have four broken ribs, a fractured radius, a minor concussion, my nose is broken, two black eyes, three missing teeth, a fractured tibia, and major bruising all over my body, and... it hurts a lot. But like I said, with you here, it takes the edge off."
"What else?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not some stupid blonde, Faith. You paused. What else is there? Internal bleeding? What?"
Faith lets a few tears fall before she answers.
"Doc says there's evidence of sexual assault."
I gasp. Faith was... raped?