Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing; just borrowing a while.

Author notes: One to two chapters after this.

Part 5

Almost immediately, with panicky instincts, Buffy attempted to shove Faith off of her. When Faith barely seemed to notice and did not budge, merely nuzzling her face closer into Buffy's shoulder and rubbing her hand slowly over her back, Buffy spoke up hurriedly, trying to sound calm and unconcerned even as her voice grew high and sputtered with her near alarm at Faith's previous declaration of her love for her.

"Okay…okay, Faith, you REALLY need to go inside and get someone to drive you home, because you REALLY need to sleep, because you, you don't even know what you're saying anymore, you are really, REALLY drunk, because you don't even know who I am anymore, and I think you think I'm, I think you think I'm the bad name, you know, the Robin name, and I'm not, you know, tall and bald and black, or, or MALE, I'm small and blonde and female, see, female with the girl parts, so if you forgot that, then-"

"I know who you are," Faith cut her off, showing absolutely no indications of any intentions of releasing Buffy any time soon, and as the brunette inhaled deeply, her nose bumping against Buffy's collarbones, her long hair tickling her shoulder, chest, and arm, so that Buffy gulped. "You're Beeeee…"

"Yeah…yeah, yes, yes, I am, I'm B, I mean, Buffy!" Buffy said hurriedly, nodding emphatically as she continued to attempt to gain some space away from the clinging vine now known as Faith…the vine that was continuing to rub its hands up and down Buffy's back in a way Buffy was horrified to acknowledge even privately didn't' exactly feel awful. "And, and you don't feel- you don't say- you don't, about ME, about BUFFY, you don't- we don't do that! And we don't' do- the touching- we don't-"

"We oughtta start then…how come we don't' start?" Faith mumbled, and her hand slipped lower, stopping at the small of Buffy's back…much, much too close to her backside for Buffy's liking. "I know you want to…know I want to…so we…we should…start…"

"No! No, no, we shouldn't!" Buffy squeaked as Faith's hand dipped still lower, and she hastily grabbed it with her own hand, plucking it away from her and fighting to keep it separate from her body. Faith seemed to take this as Buffy attempting to sweetly hold her hand, however, and entwined her fingers with hers, squeezing gently, even smiling as she turned her head, lifting it slightly off of Buffy's shoulder.

"No, no, Faith, see, this, this is where the drunk talk comes in, because, because you are WRONG, you don't want me, and I don't want you, and there, there is not LOVE, zero, nada, none, that, there is no love, you don't know what you're saying," Buffy continued to stammer, certain that every inch of her face must be approximately the shade of a brand new, freshly waxed fire engine as she continued to struggle to control Faith's hands and also keep her upright on her feet without causing them both to fall. She knew that she should simply sling Faith over her shoulder and drag her inside, but her hands were , seemingly unable to carry out her commands to them…why the hell were they going rogue now, when she needed them the most?

"I do too," Faith insisted, her tone stubborn, more like a petulant child than an earnest adult. But then she sighed, laying her head on Buffy's shoulder and ceasing her struggles with her, although Buffy stayed alert, very aware and suspicious of the hand still resting between her shoulder blades, not to mention the one settled docilely in hers. "I love you, B…always did…always will, always gonna, always, even if you don't love me…it's okay, you don't gotta love me, never gonna love me, I love you anyway…"

"Faith…Faith, let's go inside," Buffy said desperately, even though the thought of bringing her in to Andrew's camera and a crowd of drunk, easily amused people who would be no doubt fascinated for decades to come by an intoxicated Faith wrapped around her, loudly declaring her undying love for her, did not in the least sound like an experience Buffy cared to suffer any time soon. Especially considering the little incident of the near assault, aka Faith's dancing, from before.

She tried to pry Faith off of her at least partly, but this simply was not working, and all the while Faith was babbling like a Billy Bass the Talking Trout Thing whose batteries were on the blitz. Buffy had always hated that stupid thing. Figures Faith would be copying it now. Or something.

"You're so hot, B…and you know, you know what? You're beautiful too…and that, that's different…that's like…different…"

"Yeah, well, thanks, Faith, glad you approve," Buffy muttered, her ears burning, as she seized Faith around the waist and turned her roughly, finally managing to pry her apart from her a little.

Faith giggled, to Buffy's disbelief, as she slung the taller woman over her shoulder, legs dangling down her back. Faith could GIGGLE?

"Like this…gonna get rough? You know what I wanna do to you…always wanted you…first time ever saw you…I wanted, I wanted to take your stake and tear off your skirt…prissy little…girly thing…and…"

"Oh god I BEG you not to finish that sentence," Buffy said, her voice horror-stricken, even as a small part of her wondered what it was that Faith had been about to say. Aghast at this flickering thought, she readjusted her grip on her, beginning to lug her the rest of the way up the steps, as Faith hung upside down, a limp, unhelpful weight that giggled again.

"Never thought I'd get to ride ya, B…"

"Don't you puke on me now, don't you DARE puke on me," Buffy warned in sudden alarm, twisting her head to glance at Faith sharply. "I will drop you straight on your head and you're gonna hurt enough in the morning without a concussion to deal with too."

"Wouldn't puke on you, B…'cause I love you…then you'd stink," Faith reassured her, giggling yet again, the sound grating enough to Buffy's nerves that she wanted to choke her, and yet, she was still not sufficiently angry enough to satisfy herself. What was wrong with her?

"Even if you don't got tits…and you're stuck up…goody goody…always bossing us around…think you're better…can't find the fun…don't like me..don't forgive me…don't even know you got the hots for me…I still love you!" Faith declared, and Buffy spoke up indignantly.

"I do NOT have the hots for you, Faith!"

"Didn't say nothing about the rest…and you do too…dead boy lover," Faith slurred, and Buffy's jaw ached from her continual tension of it as she finally reached and struggled to open the door.

Still balancing the increasingly heavy, unhelpful Faith over her shoulder, Buffy stood in the doorway hurriedly scanning the crowd, looking for Xander and his keys, or even Willow and hers, and also for someone who was, if not sober, at least considerably less drunk than Faith, to hoist her off onto. But as Buffy's gaze took in the rest of the room's occupants, her jaw dropped, and she nearly let Faith fall on her head after all, even if the woman had so far managed not to vomit on her. This…this was far beyond what her eyes could handle…

Every single person Buffy saw before her had apparently, in the past half hour or so, become every bit as drunk as Faith, or perhaps taken very large hits of a very scary drug. Everywhere she looked people were half dressed, some fully nude or close to it, ripping clothes off others as they aggressively grabbed, groped, pawed, and moved with them in what was apparently dancing, but looked to Buffy's stunned eyes more like assault. Empty or partly empty alcohol bottles were strewn everywhere, their contents spilling out, and people were rolling on the floor, moaning aloud as they kissed each other with passion that looked painful to Buffy, like bites…

As her eyes darted about rapidly, trying to make sense of what had changed from a relaxed partying to what looked now to be a wild borderline mass orgy, Buffy's eyes popped as she began to recognize some of the writhing forms of the crowd. Willow and Kennedy, rolling on the floor by the couch they had been on before, Willow straddling Kennedy, unbuttoning her shirt, then burying her mouth between Kennedy's breasts…Xander, sandwiched between not one, not two, but THREE young Slayers Buffy recognized as having previously displayed signs of having a crush on him, his face lit up with pleasure as they rubbed their bodies against him. Andrew, beaming as he stood bare-chested on the bar counter, wildly swinging his discarded shirt in circles around his head…Rona and Vi, who Buffy had not ever once thought of as anything other than what she had assumed to be heterosexual, paired up with the usually timid Vi pressing Rona against the wall, aggressively kissing her as her hand slid under Rona's shirt…

And what scared Buffy the most, the person she DIDN'T see… if all this was going on, if everyone was doing this without caring who saw…then where was Dawn, and what was she doing with her secret boyfriend that was so much worse that she didn't come out here with everyone else?

Still dangling over Buffy's shoulder, Faith twisted her head to look at what had stopped Buffy in her tracks. As she took in the revelers before her, she grinned, pleased, eyes lighting up.

"Ooooh, look B…let's show 'em what we got…Slayers do it better…"

She turned her head back, opening her mouth wide and without warning, beginning to suck hard on Buffy's neck. As a sharp jolting of simultaneous shock, agitation, and very unwanted arousal shot through Buffy's center, she yelped, tossing Faith forward off of her roughly so the woman fell on her ass. Her heart pounding, thoughts tangling in genuine near panic, Buffy ran, squeezing and cringing her way over to where Willow and Kennedy still rolled about, Willow's earlier tipsy comment reverberating in her mind.

She had said a spell for "openness of spirit…" well all of this was just a little too damn open for Buffy's liking, and the faster they closed all these stupid spirits again, the better.