I'm... What?
(Buffy's POV)
I'm nervous. Very nervous. I had to leave early this morning so I could get ready for school. Faith wasn't happy about it, but she didn't argue. So, I left, and now I'm so nerouvs about how things are going to go with her today at school. I know she's strong, and she can handle a lot, but there are a lot of rumors going around school about her. Like, a lot. And most of them are close enough to the truth that I know they'll still bother her. And no one's really going to believe what she tells them, except for me and her friends.
But I'm sure she'll be fine. She does have some pretty tough friends, and she has at least one or two in every class. There's no way Faith or any of our friends are going to stand for people insulting her. Then again, I'm not reallyafraid of what people will say, because Faith can take care of herself when it comes to stuff like that. What I'm really nervous about is Faith getting suspended or expelled for fighting.
But until we get to school, there's no point in getting worried, so I push thoughts like that out of my mind and finish getting ready. I decided to do something special for Faith today. Something to help take her mind off of everyone else but me. Something I think is going to leave her thinking about me all day. Because, let's face it, even though it's not really my style, I look hot in these black leather skinny pants, red low-cut v-neck blouse, combat boots and Faith's leather jacket. The one she gave me a while back. I'm also wearing a pair of dark sunglasses as I walk out the door to catch a ride with Xander.
"Buff?" He asks, shocked at the way I'm dressed. Have I mentioned how leather is so not my thing? And yet, it looks damn hot on me.
"Yeah?" I ask innocently.
"Buff?" I hear behind me, and I look to see Willow in the back seat. Why she isn't in the passenger seat, I don't know.
"Yeah?"
"Um... Trying out for the part of the tanned cow in the school musical?"
"There's a musical?" I ask innocently again.
"Buffy, what are you wearing?" Willow asks hesitantly. She still hasn't gone back to the fuzzy sweaters and skirts. She's still actually dressing like she's proud of her body. I guess dating Xander has boosted her confidence in herself. That, plus the fact that nearly every boy in school is drooling over her now.
"Oh, this? Nothing much." I bite my lip, and they look at me expectantly. "Okay, fine. I swore I wouldn't mention this until you guys found out for yourself, but Faith is coming back to school today, and I just wanted to do something to take her mind off of everything. She's been trying to get me into leather pretty much since day one, and I thought this would make a good surprize."
"Well, I, for one, am very surprized." Xander says, and Willow nods in agreement.
"Think she'll like it?" I ask nervously.
"Well, you know her better than we do, but I'm sure she'll be drooling." Willow says with a grin.
"Thanks, Will." I smile back. "Hey, why aren't you up here?"
"Oh. Force of habit. I'm so used to sitting in the back seat that I just automatically come back here."
"Oh. That's cool. I just figured, Xander's your boyfriend, not mine, so..."
"Good point." Willow says. "Outta my seat." She orders, and I smile, rolling my eyes as Willow and I get out of the car and trade seats. Willow looks back at me and winks once we're both buckled in, and she's holding Xander's hand. I laugh back at her just as Xander pulls away from the driveway and down the street.
...
I'm sitting on the steps by Faith's friends, waiting for her to show up. We've got about ten minutes left before class, and I'm hoping to spend at least five minutes making out with Faith.
Speak of the devil, here she is. She walks up the steps slowly, keeping her eyes on the ground, trying to avoid all the staring. Absolutely everyone is staring at her. Finally, she looks up at her friends, looking right over me. I guess I kind of blend in with the background right now. There's a lot of leather right here.
"H-hey, guys..." Faith says with a weak smile.
"Hey Faith, what's up?" Jack asks. The Leathers all agreed before she showed up to act like it's just a regular day, and I can see that she appreciates it, because she relaxes a bit and smiles.
"Not much, Jack. Where's Buff-..." She freezes as she notices me, the only girl in the sea of leather-clad biker males.
"Hey, girfriend." I say with a smile.
"Um, Faith?" Jason says nervously.
"Huh?" Faith mutters under her breath, still staring at me in awe.
"Um, you've got a little... something... just there." He teases, pointing at the corner of his mouth, and the guys laugh. Faith barely even notices. Though, as I look, I see Jason's right, andshe actually is drooling a little.
"Faith?" I say. As amusing as this is, I have to take some pity on her. Show her some mercy.
"Yeah, B?" She snaps herself out of her stupor, and I point to the corner of my mouth. She blushes and wipes the drool away on her sleeve, and another round of laughter escapes the mouts of the guys. "Shut up, dirtbags." Faith grumbles humorously. The guys fall silent, but their eyes are still laughing.
"Good morning, sunshine." I tease her, and she walks up to me, smiling. She puts her arms around my waist and pulls me in for a kiss that quickly becomes heated.
"Ugh. This again? First day back, and the dykes have to go and dry hump each other on the front steps of the school." Cordelia groans. Her "friends" all murmur their agreement.
Without missing a beat, Faith removes one of her arms from around my waist, putting it behind her. Never pulling away from the kiss, Faith flips Cordy and the rest of the Skank Squad off. I smile against her lips.
"What's the matter, Lehane?" Cordy smirks. "No snappy comeback?"
Finally, Faith pulls away, breathing harshly. "Nah, just got better things to do than exchange words with ya, Cordy." She says, then goes back to kissing me.
Cordelia sighs, realizing she's not going to get a rise out of Faith that way.
Unfortunately, she changes tactics. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprized. You always were the school slut. I guess I just figured after a couple days ago, you'd have had enough sex to last you more than two days. It was rough enough to land you in the hospital."
Everyone, even Cordelia's friends stiffen up. This just went from a not-so-friendly competition to personal. Faith freezes against me, and I tighten my arms around her. Not to stop her from going off, but to stop me from going off. Faith seems to realize that, so she holds me tighter as well and whispers in my ear.
"Don't do it, B. She's not worth it." I nod, feeling tears rolling down her cheeks against my cheeks, and I want nothing more than to haul off and knock Cordelia on her ass. But Faith is begging me now not to rise to the occasion, so I just let it go.
"So tell me, Faith, how was he? Was he good?"
I can feel Faith shutting down, so I squeeze her, pleading with her to not close me out. She nods in understanding, and I back away from her to look Cordelia in the eye. Faith squeezes my arm, and I nod, assuring her that I'm not going to hit the bitch.
"Cordelia, I used to be in your shoes. The popular girl in school. Future Homecoming Queen. Future Prom Queen. And I was just as self-centered as you are. So I know what's really going through your mind. You want to try and hurt anyone that the guys might be drooling over more than they're drooling over you. You want to be the only one that draws the guys' attention. And now that I'm here, and dating the girl that's hotter than you here at this school, I'm drawing attention away from you, so you have to lash out. Well, here's a newsflash for you, the world doesn't revolve around you. You're not the hottest girl in school. I'm not sure which one of you was here first, but Faith is ten times hotter than you, and that makes you jealous. And I'll bet that, now that Willow's coming out of her shell, and drawing the attention of boys galore, you're even jealous of her, and that really gets your hair in a twist. So you just lash out all you want. It's not going to work." With that, I turn back around and kiss Faith even more passionately than before. The guys are all trying hard not to laugh at Cordelia's rage as she stomps away, the Skank Squad trailing close behind her.
"Faith?" I whisper to her once Cordelia is out of sight.
"Yeah?" She asks, wiping tears away.
I want to ask if she's okay, but I know that that's a stupid question.
So instead, I just kiss her again.
After a minute, I pull away so I can speak. "You don't have to say it yet, but I'm ready to. So I'm going to say it. I love you, Faith." Faith gasps in surprize, and the guys' eyes grow wide.
So, a really short chapter this time, mainly as a teaser. So, how do you think Faith is going to react? Bring on the reviews!