Chapter Thirteen

Buffy couldn't sleep after Faith left. She'd changed out of her ridiculous pajama's into another pair, although a soft pink, they didn't have any stupid dancing bananas all over them, thinking of how embarrassing it was for Faith to have seen her wearing them. She had been laying in bed for an hour and even as exhausted as she was, she couldn't force herself to fall asleep. She kicked off her heavy white duvet and groaned in frustration, thumping her fists against the mattress as she stared at up at the ceiling.

She could feel the ghosting of Faith's lips still on hers, how good she tasted, how soft her lips were. Her heart began racing as she thought of how Faith had picked her up and she groaned again, unable to shake every last memory of what had happened between them barely an hour before.

Why did it even happen? She couldn't help but wonder how it ended up that way, with them kissing and clinging to each other. She knew that in the dream she had kissed Faith first and again when Faith had found her in the room she'd been trapped in for what she had learned was close to two months. Even though Faith had made the first move that time, was kissing her back just her way of thanking her and that somewhere it turned into something else?

"Oh, this is so infuriating," Buffy groaned out into the quietness of her room.

Buffy sat up slowly, still fully aware with how weak her body still was. Yet, when she expected the rush, the dizziness that had been clinging to her for days to come, it didn't and she stood up with ease, suddenly feeling a lot stronger than she'd felt earlier. She was nowhere near close to being back to her normal self, slayer and all, but as she walked away from the bed, she felt better, felt that strength coming back, bit by bit.

It was getting dark fast outside and her room was already engulfed in darkness. She knew it better than the back of her hand and she walked over to the lamp beside the couch and flipped it on. Sighing loudly into the room, she picked at the bandage on her hand and pulled it off. Where the IV had been in there before, there wasn't even any evidence, not even a tiny hole.

"Huh," she said as she tossed the bandage into the garbage can.

Buffy plopped down on the couch and pulled her white cashmere blanket around her to keep the slight chill in the room from making her too cold. She couldn't stop thinking about Faith, about kissing her, about what it all meant. It was different when Satsu had tried to kiss her, she was freaked out and not at all into the idea of kissing another woman. It was different with Faith and here she was, driving herself crazy trying to figure out why that was. It wasn't as if she ever thought about Faith that way before, but after everything she'd been through and sharing those dreams with Faith, something had changed and it was something bigger than she could understand.

Something told her she'd drive herself crazy all night long if she didn't talk to someone about what was going on inside of her head. But who would she talk to that wouldn't think she'd completely lost her mind while Satsu held her prisoner? And who would even understand the feelings that were creeping up on her, the thoughts she never had that were now consuming her?

Buffy shook her head and stood up from the couch. Maybe she should go and find Willow and talk to her, after all, Willow was one of her best friends and she could always talk to her about anything. If anyone would understand what she was going through, it'd be Willow. Buffy quickly changed out of her pajama's and into a pair of comfortable dark grey sweatpants with a matching sweater that was just a tad too big on her, but it was warm and comfortable and she definitely didn't want to leave her room wearing just her pajama's after all. She slipped on her fuzzy pink bunny slippers and headed out into the corridor in search of Willow.

She checked Willow and Kennedy's room first and it was empty, neither of them were in there and everything was dark. In fact, all the rooms on the floor were void of her friends, of Faith, completely. Grumbling in frustration, she headed down the corridor to the elevator and hit the button, jumping back as the doors instantly opened.

She gasped in surprise to see Xander and Dawn inside the elevator, engaged in what looked like a very intense kiss. Her stomach lurched and it made her feel sick. Xander was making moves on her little sister? The queasy feeling quickly turned into anger and she grabbed Xander by the collar of his shirt and yanked him away from Dawn and out of the elevator.

"Buffy!" He squeaked and he let out a gasp as Buffy shoved him away from her. "What are you doing up? Are you supposed to be up and out of bed?"

"Shut up," she said through clenched teeth as she stared hard at Dawn as she got off the elevator, her face red and hung low in shame. "Do either of you want to explain to me what the hell I just saw happening here?"

Silence. Buffy took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She was in no state to kick Xander's ass to hell and back for making moves on her sister. She looked at Dawn and back at Xander and she crossed her arms as she waited for one of them to speak.

"Buffy, it's not what it looked like," Dawn said quietly. "It wasn't-"

"What it looked like to me was my best friend making moves on my little sister."

"Buffy-"

"Stop, Dawnie. Just don't," Buffy said and she turned to Xander. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Buffy, it's-sometimes things just-I don't know how to explain it, but I-we-" Xander stammered as his whole body started to shake a bit. "I'm sorry. it was a mistake. It'll never happen again," he said once he managed to calm himself down, his words sounding distant.

Dawn stormed up to him and slapped him hard across the cheek before she took off running down to her room. The sound of her slamming the door echoed through the quiet corridor and Buffy narrowed her eyes at Xander.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Buffy asked and Xander shifted uncomfortable, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but there. "I swear, if you lie to me, so help me God I'll-"

"You'll what?" Xander asked. "Hurt me? Throw me out of here and tell me never to come back? You'd really do that, Buff?"

Buffy opened her mouth, but she didn't know how to respond to that. Sighing she dropped her arms from across her chest, but she didn't take her hard, dangerous glare off of Xander for a second.

"It's been hard without you around here. We were so worried about you, Buffy. We thought for a while you'd turned rogue and made yourself disappear."

"What does that have anything to do with what I just saw, Xander?"

"That's the thing," he said and he shrugged a little. "It just happened. We were spending a lot of time together and Dawn would come to me sometimes when she was upset because all she could do was think about you and she just didn't know if you'd ever come back home again. I didn't plan on falling for her, Buffy. It kind of just happened."

"Oh."

Buffy's stomach dropped when she realized what she'd done by making a big deal out of catching Xander and Dawn in the elevator together. Xander had, somewhere along the way after she went missing, fallen in love with her little sister. And because she'd made a big deal out of it, Xander had said it was all a mistake even though he hadn't meant it. She single-handedly caused heartbreak not just for her sister, but Xander as well, all because she just didn't know they were seeing each other.

"I shouldn't have allowed it to happen," Xander said softly. "Dawn's your sister and you guys are like family to me."

"Xander," Buffy started and she frowned, her lower lip trembling as she could see how distraught he was. "I'm sorry."

"I can probably just talk to her, smooth things over with the good old Harris charm," he said jokingly, but she could see that the laugh that followed was forced, displaced. "If you don't want me seeing her, I'll just-"

"Do you make her happy?" Buffy asked him. "Are you good to her, Xander?"

"This is me we're talking about here. Of course I'm good to her. It wouldn't be any other way."

"Right," Buffy let out a little laugh as she started to feel less uneasy and angry about Xander and Dawn behind together without her knowing about it.

Xander gave her a small nod before he turned and headed down the other end of the corridor to his own room. Turning to the still open elevator doors, Buffy stepped in and hit the floor that Willow's office was located.

She'd nearly forgotten in the heat of the moment what she was doing out of bed when she should be sleeping, why she was out there looking for Willow. Xander wasn't just making moves on her little sister, they were together apparently and were happy until she'd ruined it for both of them.

Groaning, she leaned against the wall as the elevator doors slid shut quietly. When had everything become so confusing in her life? When had everything stopped making complete sense and when had life started to feel like she'd walked into an alternate universe?

So consumed by her thoughts, she barely noticed as the elevator came to a stop. She nearly jumped for the second time when the doors opened suddenly and Willow walked in, otherwise preoccupied by Kennedy.

"Oh my god!" Buffy yelped as she covered her eyes. "What is with everyone and the kissing tonight?"

"Buffy?" Willow said as she quickly pulled her lips away from Kennedy's. "What are you doing? Are you supposed to be out of bed? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm starting to think I should be," she muttered as Willow and Kennedy stepped onto the elevator with her. "I was actually coming to find you, Wil. There's something I need to talk to you about. Alone."

"Is something wrong?"

"Aside from me just witnessing Xander making out with my little sister?" Buffy asked, earning shocked gasps from the two of them. "You didn't know?"

"Xander and...Dawnie?" Willow whispered as she clutched to Kennedy's arm.

"Making with the kissing and-oh god I don't want to think about what else they've done!"

"Oh my god, it's the end of the world," Kennedy said as she rolled her eyes dramatically. "Wil, honey, of all the times they've found some kind of excuse to run off together and you didn't even think that there was something going on? They've been screwing like rabbits long before Buffy went missing."

"I'm not hearing this!" Buffy shrieked as she covered her ears. "Nope, I am not hearing this. I definitely don't need to hear about my sister and one of my best friends being together in that way. Nope!"

"They-"

"Shut up, Kennedy!" Buffy and Willow shouting in unison.

It was quiet in the courtyard, dark and cool, but she had sought out the quiet, somewhere out in the open where the walls didn't feel like they were closing in on her. Taking a drag of her cigarette, the third in an hour, she inhaled deeply and stared up at the sky above, dark and grey and filled with clouds that threatened to break open with rain at any moment. She could just feel the storm about to roll in, the electricity of the lightning far off in the distance already prickling at her skin.

Faith had been out there since she left Buffy's room, unable to go back to her own room and she hadn't been in the mood for any company either. Her mind was swarmed with thoughts, with recent memories of what went down between her and Buffy. It was just a few kisses, very hot ones, and it wasn't as if they'd fucked. She had to keep reminding herself that, that and the fact Buffy seemed just as into it as she was.

Dropping her cigarette to the ground, she crushed it out and shoved it aside to join the other barren butts beside the stone bench. She ran a hand through her hair and stood up as the group that went on patrol came running through the courtyard.

"Yo, where's the fire?" Faith called out, but the girls just ran into the castle without answering her. Shrugging, she almost sat back down, but the rain came thundering in quickly. "Damn it."

Running inside, she slammed the door shut behind her. Just a minute in the rain and she was soaked right through. The girls that had just returned were standing in the entryway, some of them giggling at Faith as the others put their weapons away in the large cabinet along the wall to Faith's right.

"What you laughing for?" Faith muttered as she flicked some of the rain water at them. "A little warning would've been nice. How hard is it to shout out, "the rain is coming!" as ya ran past me?"

"Because seeing you whine and pout about it is so much better," Gina said as she pulled her hoody off. "Girls, excellent job out there tonight. We might not have gotten much done, but that vamp definitely didn't see us coming."

Faith rolled her eyes and watched Gina as she sent the girls off. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as Gina put her own weapons away in the cabinet and shut the heavy door.

"Just one vamp tonight?" Faith asked her, ignoring the chill that was settling over her skin. "Where?"

"Cemetery about ten minutes south. It's usually very inactive. It's the old crypts that attract sort of local vampires there, sometimes in search of what they think is valuable loot."

"But it's not really, is it?"

"No, those crypts have long since been raided, but we did need to train some of the girls on the field without putting them in too much danger."

"Anything that's of "value" there, you guys planted it? As vamp bait?" Faith asked her, mildly impressed.

"How's your leg?" Gina asked her. "Healed?"

"Completely. Doc said to come see you in the morning to get the stitches out. Any chance you can get that done tonight?"

"I don't see why not?" Gina shrugged. "Patrol was cut short by the storm. I heard it's going to be a big one."

"Just like the last one we had that lasted for three days."

"Bigger than that. You can't feel how strong this one is?" Gina asked her as they walked towards the main set of stairs instead of using the elevator. "I have always been able to tell just when a storm is about to hit. Just like I could always tell when dusk was approaching and when dawn was near. It tingles, kind of like the way it feels when a vampire is nearby or another slayer."

Faith shrugged. She hadn't paid much attention to her senses, not most of the time, but she did know when dusk was close and when the first rays of sun were about to rise over the horizon. It was a slayer thing, part of their instincts, but when it came to weather, she had just as much luck in predicting it as a weatherman did.

The walk to the med unit was quiet the rest of the way and Gina gave Faith a paper gown so she could change out of her wet clothes. Faith started to pull off her shirt and Gina shook her head and pulled the curtain around the bed shut. Laughing, Faith peeled off her wet clothes and pulled on the paper gown. She whistled, giving Gina the all clear that she was decent and ready to get the stitches out.

"So, Faith," Gina said once she'd gotten everything she needed, some gauze, rubber gloves and medical scissors. "How long are you planning on staying here?"

"Haven't given it much thought."

"But you do have a job that you need to get back to eventually, right?"

"Eventually. It's been slow even before I came here to look for Buffy. If Giles, Willow or the coven in England find another girl, I'll go retrieve her or..."

"Deal with her in whatever way is necessary," Gina finished for her and she swiftly started removing the stitches.

Hissing as Faith felt the burn as Gina snipped and pulled out each stitch, she couldn't help but watch her as she moved effortlessly in doing it. Any other time she'd had to be stitched up, she ended up pulling them out herself. It always took nearly a dozen shots of Jack before she was numb enough and brave enough to do it. She hated blood, even her own, and she hated stitches even more.

"There," Gina said as she gently wiped at the few trickles of blood that ran down her thigh after she pulled the last stitch out. "Almost like new again."

"Thanks," Faith smiled and she got up from the bed and grabbed her wet clothes. "Appreciate it."

Faith slipped on her boots and quickly retreated out of the med unit. It wasn't like she minded being around Gina, but sometimes the way Gina would look at her, the playful tone in her voice, it was just teetering on the edge of flirting. Normally she'd playfully flirt back, it was in her nature, or it was until those few kisses she'd had with Buffy earlier.

What is happening to me? I feel like I'm under some kind of spell and all I can think about is Buffy.

Faith quickly made her way to the elevators and hit the button, shivering slightly from the damp chill that always seemed to cling to the air inside the castle walls. She jumped when the doors opened suddenly and she slipped inside and hit the top button. Breathing heavily, she leaned against the wall and waited for the elevator to come to a stop, focusing on anything but the rapid beating of her heart and the way her breath would hitch every time she closed her eyes and thought about Buffy, the way she had kissed her, the taste of her, the way her body had felt against her own, how soft and warm Buffy's skin was when she'd slipped her hands under her shirt...

Nobody had ever affected her that way, not even some of the hottest guys who were great in the sack that she'd picked up when she was still getting her kicks with one-night stands. How long had it been since she'd been with anyone? She couldn't even remember. All she knew was somewhere along the way, getting her itch scratched was no longer on the list of her top priorities. It'd been too long. Far too long since she'd felt that satisfying release and now, out of nowhere, that burn inside of her was back with a vengeance.

Faith had never been with another woman before, but she knew it wasn't brain surgery. She knew what made her feel good, knew her way around a woman's body since she had one. She was sexually experienced enough to know what felt good, what was weird and if the other was into it, just how kinky she could take it before she pole-vaulted over the line she drew for herself. And Buffy had felt good, her skin so soft, so warm, she bet it even tasted good.

"Oh god, this torture," Faith groaned as she clutched onto her wet clothes. She groaned again. "Shake it off. Think about something else, anything else."

The elevator came to a soft stop and the door slid open. She practically ran down the corridor to her room and burst inside. She slammed it shut behind her, breathing heavily as she tried to think of anything but sex. She tore off the paper gown and tossed it on the couch before she walked right into the bathroom to hang up her wet clothes and grabbed a fluffy white towel.

"Jesus christ!" Faith yelled when she walked out of the bathroom and found Kennedy in the kitchenette with a beer in her hand. "What the hell are you doing in here, Ken?"

"Definitely didn't come for a strip show, that's for sure," she chuckled as she motioned to Faith's nearly naked state. "I was waiting for you. Figured you'd be back sooner or later."

"Something wrong with your room?" Faith asked as she wrapped the towel around her body.

"It's currently being used for an apparently very important best friend bonding time," Kennedy replied and she rolled her eyes. "I don't know why they just didn't go talk in Buffy's room."

"Best friend bonding time?"

"Apparently Buffy is freaked out about something, which is entirely not new by the way, and she needed to talk to Willow. Alone."

Buffy was freaking out. Probably because she came to her senses and realized who she'd been kissing, Faith though and she sighed loudly as she walked over to the dresser. Yanking the drawer open roughly, she pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. She dropped the towel and dressed quickly before she turned around to look over at Kennedy still standing in the kitchenette.

"Beer me," Faith said as she walked over to the couch and sat down. Kennedy pulled a can of beer out of the fridge and tossed it to her. "Gonna go out on a limb here and say you don't know what it is she's freaking out over?"

"Get this," Kennedy chuckled as she joined her on the couch. "Buffy caught Xander and Dawn making with the smooches and completely freaked over it, so I'm guessing that's one thing that has her acting like a complete spaz."

"Good thing she didn't hear the things they were doing to each other in Rome," Faith chuckled. "She'd probably would've killed Xander, or Dawn, or both of them."

"Right?" Kennedy smirked. "I knew for months that they'd been together. The way they tried to hide the fact they'd go off alone together was so obvious. I guess I am the only observant one of the group since Willow had no idea they were bumping uglies."

"I don't get what the big deal is," Faith said as she cracked her beer open and quickly slurped up the foam that came out. "Dawn's an adult and living here, I mean how many dating options do either of them really have?"

"I guess it's kind of weird, it is Dawn and Xander. He's like her big brother. when you think about it."

They shared a look of disgust before bursting into laughter. In a way, Faith welcomed the unexpected company. At least for a little while, Kennedy would be able to keep her from thinking of Buffy and from driving herself completely crazy obsessing over kissing her.

"That's gross, Ken," Faith chuckled. "And people change all the time. Just cos they've always been close like a brother and a sister, it doesn't make them actually related or anything."

"Even worse when you put it that way."

"Right," Faith shuddered. "But hey," she shrugged as she shivered, her damp hair and the chill in the room definitely made her rethink the whole wearing a tank top thing. "If they're happy, who is anyone to say anything else otherwise, right? Why not just let them be together if that's what they want."

"Try convincing Buffy and Willow that. They both were making a big deal over it, well kind of more freaking out over it than anything else. I get it and I don't. And why the hell are we even talking about them?"

"Don't forget you were the one that brought it up."

"Whatever," Kennedy laughed dryly. "So, you wanna head downstairs and play a few games of pool?"

"For money?"

Rolling her eyes as she stood up, Kennedy let out a laugh. "Of course for money. I'm always down for making a few extra dollars."

"Oh you're so gonna be broke by the time I'm finished with you."

"Is that right?" Kennedy asked, her look matching Faith's challenging look.

"Damn right."

"Bring it on."

Buffy held the novelty mug filled with delicious hot chocolate in her hands as Willow bustled around the kitchenette, making herself a cup of tea. The mug had a stupid drawing of a witch with a green face, long nose, a wart and a pointy hat. Kennedy had picked it up for Willow when she'd gone to visit her family last Christmas in New York City and she knew just how much Willow loved it, just for the sheer ridiculousness of it.

She wasn't sure how she was going to bring up the fact that she'd kissed Faith, several times, and was now seriously questioning her own sexuality since the thoughts she was having about Faith were far from her former straighter than an arrow self. Was it a Faith thing? She hadn't even been remotely attracted to Satsu and she thought back to when Satsu had tried to kiss her, how she had completely freaked out. Maybe it was a Faith thing? It definitely had to be a Faith thing.

"Okay, I don't like the look I'm seeing right now," Willow said as she walked over to the couch, similar to the one Buffy had in her own room only it was a light brown and less modern looking than her purple one. "Is the hot chocolate okay? It's too chocolate-y, isn't it?"

"It's fine, Wil."

Willow frowned as she placed her cup of tea on the coffee table and sat down next to her. "You're still upset about Xander and Dawnie, aren't you?"

"A little bit. It's kind of shocking," Buffy replied quietly as she stared down at the mug in her hands. "I never thought-I mean out of everyone, I didn't think Xander would fall for my sister."

"But hey," Willow said with a smile, "once you get past all the shock, you can totally see how adorable they'd be together, right?"

"I guess."

"Xander would never hurt her," Willow continued. "I've known him my entire life. Dawn is lucky to have someone like her in her life, even if it's more than just a friend."

"Wil," Buffy took a deep breath as she looked up at her. "I don't want to talk about them. This isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh. Okay, so what is it that you wanted to talk about? Willow Rosenberg here, reporting for best friend duty."

Buffy laughed as Willow saluted her in the most ridiculous way. She took a deep breath and placed the mug on the coffee table before she brought her knees up to her chest. What was she even going to say? Where did she even start? She had no idea and the thought of talking to Willow about this was starting to feel like it was the most frightening thing she'd ever faced in her life. Her emotions were running high and she was blaming it on the fact that she still wasn't back to her normal self just yet. Still weak, still so tired.

"Buffy?" Willow asked, the concern heavy in her voice as she reached out to her. "Buffy, what's going on? Are you okay? Come on, it's me. You can talk to me about anything, you know that right?"

"I know."

"Buffy, you're starting to freak me out."

"I'm already freaking out here!"

"This is totally about Xander and Dawnie, isn't it?"

"No," Buffy breathed out heavily. "It's about Faith."

"Oh," Willow laughed as she shook her head. "Did she not come and see you? She told me earlier she was going to, but then I sent her to go and see Andrew and-"

"I kissed her."

"And you kissed her," she finished and blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I kissed Faith."

"I need to sit down," Willow said with wide eyes. When she looked down at the couch, she let out a short laugh. "Oh, I'm already sitting down. Maybe I didn't hear you right. Did you just say that you kissed Faith?"

Buffy could feel her cheeks burning hot. She buried her face into her hands, suddenly wishing she hadn't said anything at all. She felt Willow touch her arm before she felt Willow's arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Oh, Buffy, it's okay," Willow whispered. "You kissed her as a way of saying how grateful you are that she found her. It's okay. It's not a big deal."

"It was more than that. I kissed her because I wanted to, not just because I was grateful that she'd saved me," Buffy whispered. "And now I'm seriously contemplating the status of my uh, sexuality right now."

Willow looked completely confused for a moment before a look of realization dawned on her face. "You like her, don't you?"

"It's not like I wanted to!" Buffy said, gasping as she buried her face into her hands again. She started laughing, shaking her head. "This is ridiculous, isn't it?"

"No," Willow said gently. "What is making you think that it is? Do you have feelings for Faith? Aside from gratitude that she found you and saved you just in the knick of time?"

"Oh there's feelings all right, feelings and thoughts that I don't even understand and have never had, well no that's not true, but the things I am feeling, I've never felt them towards another woman before. It feels so...so..."

"Good?"

Buffy nodded, feeling her cheeks burn hotter than before. "Wil, it's so confusing feeling like this. I-I didn't know what else to do other than talk to you about this. I mean, in college, you went through the same thing only you had it all figured out when you told me you were with Tara."

"It wasn't easy, but with Tara, everything just felt so right that once I got over the confusing feelings and everything else that comes along with coming to terms with who you really are, the rest came easy. Sort of," Willow replied and she smiled a reassuring smile. "And I get it."

"You get what?"

"That Faith is hot," Willow chuckled. "It's kind of hard not to be attracted to her or have those sexy thoughts about what she's like in bed and-"

"Wil!" Buffy gasped in shock, but she was right. Faith was hot and she'd be lying if she said she didn't see that since the first moment they'd met, even though back then she'd repressed any and all of those thoughts because it had scared her. Scared her because the thought of already being a slayer would make her life even harder if she was sort of gay too.

"What was it like?" Willow asked her after she gave her a minute to process this all. "When she kissed you?"

"It was good," Buffy whispered. "Really good because wow, Faith definitely is a great kisser."

"With lips like those, of course she is."

"Willow..." Buffy groaned. "I'm kind of still freaking out about this."

"Because you think you might be gay?"

Buffy groaned loudly, feeling more embarrassed than she ever remembered feeling before. With everything she'd been through in the past couple of months, just the thought of actually having this conversation with Willow felt kind of surreal, like it wasn't really happening even though she knew it was.

"Buffy?" Willow frowned when Buffy didn't answer her. "It's not the worst thing in the world that you're feeling this way, you know that right? I know how confusing it is at first, how you try to convince yourself that you're not really feeling the way you are, that the things you're thinking of is happening because you're not thinking straight, literally. People change all the time, evolve. Sometimes it's easier just to let the changes happen and follow wherever your heart leads you."

Where was her heart leading her to? Over the past three days, while she was awake and when she was dreaming, all she could think about was Faith. Was her heart leading her to Faith? Groaning, she buried her face into her hands again and let what Willow said sink in. People did change all the time, she knew she had changed. She was a far cry from who she'd been back in Sunnydale. But who was she now? She didn't know anymore, but she did know one thing. When she had kissed Faith, when she felt Faith wrap her arms around her, she felt more like herself than she had in a long time.

And then she felt it, the feeling in her heart she had gone so long without feeling, but knew exactly what it was. That feeling of falling in love with someone new, falling so hard and fast it almost hurt.

And she knew exactly where her heart was leading her.

To Faith.