Thunder rumbled loudly, shaking the house as the rain came down in buckets. Faith pulled the pillow over her head, trying to drown out the storm. It was far too early to be awake. Her internal clock told her it wasn't even five in the morning. With the second loud crack of thunder she pulled the pillow away from her head and tossed it to the side, sighing out loudly as she laid there and stared up at the ceiling.

The kiss had haunted her since she'd gone to bed. The feel of Buffy's lips and her insistent tongue was still there, just faintly. It caused an ache in her body, making her crave more. Never had a kiss made her feel so full before and that alone scared her. She was still convinced that when Buffy woke up she'd regret it; that she'd tell her it was just a mistake and would blame it on the alcohol. She wanted to feel angry with herself for allowing it to happen, for kissing Buffy back the way she had, but she couldn't when it had felt so right.

She sat up in bed and kicked off the sheets, the dampness of the storm making her room feel hotter than it normally did. She could already feel the small beads of sweat rolling down her back, making her uncomfortable and restless. Even as exhausted as she was, she knew that getting any more sleep would be next to impossible. She never slept well during storms, not for as long as she could remember. She closed her eyes as she heard a soft creak out in the hallway and footsteps descending the stairs. She knew it was Buffy as she could just feel her. Something about the kiss had intensified their connection. She'd felt it as soon as the alcohol had worn off just a few hours before and that alone scared her.

As soon as she could smell the fresh coffee brewing down in the kitchen, she got out of bed and pulled on the jeans she'd worn the night before along with a fresh t-shirt. She opened the door, jumping back at little when she saw Buffy standing there with two mugs of coffee in her hands.

"I thought you might have been awake already," Buffy said softly as she handed Faith a mug.

"Thanks," Faith said, walking over to sit on the unmade bed with a small smile on her face.

"I was hoping that maybe we could talk."

"About what?"

"About last night."

Buffy stood in the doorway as if she was unsure whether to come in or just stay where she was. After a long moment she stepped inside the room and slowly closed the door behind her, the soft click as the door shut sounding louder than it should have. Buffy looked over at her before opting to stand by the dresser, keeping some distance between them. Faith could feel a sense of nervousness coming from her and it made her feel nervous since it was the one thing she'd never felt coming from Buffy before. She was having trouble reading her too, as she always usually did, and she was unsure of what would happen once Buffy did start to talk.

Faith sipped her coffee slowly, trying to figure Buffy out. She knew she was nervous, that was a given, but there was something else there she couldn't quite put her finger on. Buffy kept looking over at her, but the instant their eyes would meet she'd quickly look away. Faith found herself staring intensely at her as she listened to the storm raging outside and the only thing she could think about now was the way Buffy had kissed her, the way Buffy's lips had felt upon her own. She'd kissed a lot of people before, but none of them had come close to the way it felt to be kissed by Buffy. It was forever burned in her memory and would now always be the first thing she thought of any time she so much as looked at the blonde.

"I don't even know where to start," Buffy said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't even really know what to say."

"Well, you did come in here to talk, didn't you? I'm sure you knew what you were going to say before you came in here."

"Last night was..."

"A mistake?" Faith finished for her, the words feeling sour as they rolled off her tongue. "It's cool, B. Mistakes happen."

"No," she said as she shook her head. "It wasn't a mistake. I've been lying awake all night trying to convince myself otherwise. I just...I don't understand what is happening between us, Faith. It's never been like this before."

As she chewed her bottom lip, waiting for Buffy to continue, Faith knew that for the duration of this conversation she'd be holding back a lot of things for the sake of their friendship—or at least for the sake of whatever was left of it. She was afraid to say anything right then, worried that whatever she said would come out entirely wrong. She shivered as another crack of thunder ripped through the sky and shook the house.

"Faith, last night I...I'm not going to blame it on being drunk," Buffy said quietly before lifting her mug and taking a sip of her coffee. "I keep asking myself why."

"And what answers have you come up with?"

"I really don't know. I feel so confused right now."

Faith sighed as she stood up from the bed and walked over to the window, opening it a crack to let in some fresh air. She leaned against the windowsill as she stared over at Buffy, wanting to tell her she felt just as confused, but she wasn't so sure how to get the words out. She could tell from the way Buffy spoke, the way her eyes darted around the room, and the tenseness in her body that she was having a hard time just talking to her about this.

"Look, B," Faith said, lowering her eyes to the mug she held with both hands as she tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart, "we don't have to talk about it if you don't feel comfortable."

"We need to talk about this. We are talking about this."

"We've never been able to just talk about anything. What makes you think that talking about the fact that you kissed me last night is going to be any easier than just talking about general bullshit?"

"You kissed me back."

"I know I did. I shouldn't have."

"Why?"

"What what, B?"

"Why do you say that you shouldn't have kissed me back?"

Faith let out a deep breath, shaking her head as she turned to look out the window. "Cos it's ruining our friendship, Buffy. All I've ever wanted was to be friends with you, to be a part of your life. I fucked that up once already and I really don't want to go through all of that again."

She didn't have to look at Buffy to know that she had tears in her eyes. She could feel her own tears burning, threatening to fall, and she took in a few deep, shaky breaths as she tried to stop them from falling. She was opening herself up, letting down those walls she'd built so securely around herself, and she hated how vulnerable it made her feel. She hated that her heart was aching, disagreeing with everything she was thinking about. She hated that she couldn't even look at Buffy now, afraid of what she'd really see.

"It isn't," Buffy said softly as she walked over to her, approaching her tentatively as if she was afraid of how she would react. "Maybe talking about it so soon wasn't such a good idea."

"Maybe. I didn't expect you to want to talk about it at all, actually."

"You really don't know me, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"That's mostly my fault," Buffy laughed as she leaned against the windowsill next to Faith. "We don't know hardly anything about each other, so it's kind of a two-sided deal here."

"Can't expect to get to know someone overnight. Those things do take time."

"I know and I...what I wanted to say is...you've really changed, Faith."

"Not really."

"You have," Buffy smiled at her as she reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Before she could say anything else, thunder ripped through the sky and Buffy let go of her hand. The power flickered before going out and Buffy let out a frustrated groan. "Great."

"Not used to storms, are you?"

"Not anything like this, no."

Faith knew that their talk was over for the time being. She was relieved, as she'd never felt so damn nervous in her life. She wasn't a stranger to being nervous around Buffy, but after the kiss they shared it had just intensified ten-fold. They stood there side by side for a few long, quiet minutes that felt like hours before Buffy walked towards the bedroom door, stopping to look back at Faith for a moment before opening the door and walking out. Faith let out the breath she felt like she'd been holding for the last ten minutes and closed the window as the rain started to come inside.

She stayed up there alone for a while, thinking about what they'd talked about. It was nearly impossible for her to wrap her mind around the fact that Buffy didn't regret the kiss they shared. She really did expect her to flat out tell her it was a mistake before proceeding to kick her ass until she was nothing but a bloody pulp on the floor, wishing Buffy would just finish the job and kill her, put her out of her misery. She had to laugh at the over-dramatic thoughts she was having. Maybe she was stretching things too far from what they really were. If she was, she was only doing it because this whole thing scared her more than anything else had ever scared her in her life. This whole thing with Buffy, that underlying crush she'd had on her since the first time she met her, was growing into something more. She could just feel it.

There was no sense in trying to bury those feelings, especially not with them surfacing constantly with just one look. She finished off her coffee and headed downstairs, hoping to find a few minutes alone before everyone else woke up for the day. However, with the storm still raging and the thunder booming through the sky every other minute, she'd be amazed if nobody else was awake yet.

She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen as soon as she saw Buffy standing by the sink and staring out the window, body shaking slightly; a sure sign that she was crying. Unsure of what to do, she almost backed out of the kitchen, but Buffy suddenly wiped at the tears on her face before turning to look at her. She had a sinking feeling that maybe it was partly her fault that Buffy was upset, but she wasn't sure as to what she'd done.

"You okay?" Faith asked softly as she walked over to her. "B? What's wrong?"

"It's stupid," she said as she let out a choked sob before she turned her back again and gripped the edge of the counter near the sink. "It's nothing, Faith."

"You sure about that?"

"I think I'm just...that talk we had, it so didn't go the way I thought it would."

"And how'd ya think it'd go, B?"

"I told you, it's stupid. I don't even know why I'm so upset," she laughed coldly as she furiously wiped away the tears that streaked down her cheeks.

Faith smiled a little as she leaned against the counter next to her and playfully bumped her hip into Buffy's. "Tell me, B."

Before Buffy could say a word, Kennedy walked into the kitchen, grumbling under her breath how it was too damn early to be awake. Buffy stepped away from Faith, pouring herself another cup of coffee and motioning for Faith to put her mug down on the counter. Whatever Buffy was upset over specifically, it had to do with the talk they'd just had and she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that they'd been interrupted. Buffy managed to compose herself enough for Kennedy not to notice she was upset and she walked out of the kitchen without a word or a glance at either of them.

Kennedy was still half-asleep as she fumbled in the cupboard for a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. She looked over at Faith and raised an eyebrow as she hoisted herself up on the counter before taking a small sip of her coffee.

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

"No."

"Looked like you two were having some intense conversation," Kennedy replied with a smirk that Faith wanted nothing more than to slap her for. "Oh, wait…you were being sarcastic, weren't you? It's way too early for that shit, Faith."

Faith chuckled as she turned to look out the window. "Damn, this storm doesn't look like it's gonna let up any time soon, huh?"

"And the master of changing the subject is..."

"Shut up, Ken."

"I've hit a nerve, haven't I?" Kennedy snickered as she shook her head. "You know, I'm only going to say it one more time—you and Buffy need to fuck that unresolved sexual tension out. You two won't be the only ones benefiting from it. The whole house will. You know I'm right, Faith. I'm always right about these things."

Faith ignored her, knowing it'd be better for her to do that than fuel Kennedy even more. Kennedy only laughed as she slid off the counter, winking at Faith as she headed out of the kitchen and left her in there alone. She just shook her head and headed for the living room to join the others as soon as she heard them all coming downstairs. She needed to tell Giles about the bartender from last night. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the card Henry given her and sat down in the chair next to the watcher.

"Found us a contact last night," she said to him as she handed the card over. "This man named Henry, his wife is the one who put up the barrier around the Hellmouth."

"Oh really?" Giles asked, his face registering surprise as he looked at the card. "Well, this is interesting. I am familiar with Henry—not first-hand, but rather though some colleagues of mine. His wife was once a very powerful witch. I was not aware he was still here. What has he told you?"

"That the vamps and demons can't leave. There's another barrier preventing them from leaving the city all together. His brother Sam helps them escape, or he used to, I don't know. I was getting bad vibes from the guy."

"Sam, that's right," Giles sighed. "How did you meet Henry?"

"Went out to a bar last night and he was there. I overheard him and Sam talking. He knew who we were."

"As would be expected. His wife is a powerful psychic as well. She would have seen us coming long before we actually left Sunnydale."

"So, are we gonna figure out why his wife placed the barrier around the Hellmouth, or do you already know why?" Faith asked, wanting to know and feeling a little disappointed that Giles already knew about Henry.

"The rumours have it that she cast the barrier nearly fifty years ago to diminish the amount of activity here. It had the desired effect, but it didn't actually keep anything from coming or going; it merely diminished the Hellmouth's 'attraction', if you will. If what you say is true about nothing being able to leave the city, the spell has expanded on its own. We should be cautious about this situation. If there is such a barrier preventing those from leaving, I'm afraid that means you three will not be able to leave as well. This is going to cause a ripple effect of sorts."

"What kind of ripple effect?" Buffy asked as she joined them, sitting on the arm of Faith's chair. "Is it dangerous, Giles?"

"Not as far as I know, but there's still so much more that we need to know. From the looks of things, Henry and his wife are the only ones who can provide those answers. As soon as the power is back on, I will get in touch with them and set up a meeting."

"Giles?" Willow looked up from where she was sitting on the couch with a large book open in her lap. "This barrier wasn't just cast to keep the Hellmouth cloaked. It's been opened once before. By a Slayer…or a former Slayer."

Buffy looked down at Faith, her eyes wide as Faith barely flinched at the information. "By a Slayer? A rouge Slayer?" Buffy asked as she looked over at Willow.

"She was turned shortly after she arrived here to watch over the Hellmouth," Willow said as she flipped a few pages. "She's no longer around according to this book, but something seems off. It just says that she disappeared, not that she was killed."

"Henry said she'd been taken care of," Faith said softly. "He never said much else. He did say that the mystical barrier that's preventing the baddies from leaving only popped up around the city when we got here. You think it has something to do with us?"

"We can't know for sure," Giles said as he got up and pulled a few books off the shelves. "In the meantime, we'll need to research more about the Hellmouth here."

"B?" Faith smiled as she looked up at Buffy. "Want to go down and spar for a little while?"

"Sure," she smiled right back, knowing exactly what Faith was doing: namely, getting them out of having to research with the others. "Kennedy, are you coming?"

"Nah, I'm going to stay up here for awhile; you two go," she replied, winking at Faith as she took one of the books Giles handed to her.

Faith and Buffy headed downstairs, neither of them saying a word or barely even looking at one another as they walked down to the dark basement. Buffy just sat down on the bottom step and let out a soft sigh. Faith looked back at her, shrugging as she walked over to the mats and sat down. She knew they wouldn't actually spar as they said they would, but she had a funny feeling that their talk that had started and ended abruptly in the kitchen wouldn't continue unless she brought it up.

"What do you think the deal with Henry and his wife is?" Buffy asked her quietly, breaking the silence between them, but not the tension. "You didn't get any bad vibes from him last night, did you?"

"Only from his brother. Seems a little bit too shady."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know."

"Was just luck I overheard that conversation last night at the bar, B."

"I know. I should be concerned about this, but I'm not."

"No? How come?"

"Because all I can think about is last night and our talk," she replied quietly. "Faith, I really don't know how to feel right now, or what to even think. I feel like I'm losing it because all I can think about now is you. How stupid is that?"

"It ain't stupid."

"I just feel like I'm all over the place right now. I couldn't even sleep last night," Buffy said, her voice cracking slightly as she fought back the tears. "I'm getting upset over this, Faith! I don't know why it's getting to me."

"Probably cos you never thought something like that would happen," Faith replied with a shrug. "I told ya, B. It's not a big deal. It was just a kiss. It's not like we did anything else."

Faith knew that a kiss between the two of them was not just a kiss; it was a hell of a lot more. Buffy seemed to know that too and she couldn't blame her for being so distraught over it. She got up from the mats and sat next to Buffy on the steps.

"B, look at me," she said softly as she waited for Buffy to look over at her. "Things are really fucked up right now and I get why you kissed me. You've been lonely for way too long and you just wanted..."

"No, this has nothing to do with me being lonely."

"Okay," she frowned as she ran her hand through her hair. "Then why?"

"I don't know, I..."

Faith leaned in and lightly kissed her before she could say another word. She wasn't sure what made her want to do it, either, but she did. She'd never questioned herself with anyone else, but with Buffy it was different. It'd always be different and complicated. She pulled back from the chaste kiss after just seconds and looked into Buffy's eyes, seeing so much more than the desire she'd been seeing over the last couple of days. It scared her, but she shook it off and smiled a little at Buffy as she reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"What was that for?"

"Trying to help you figure out why," Faith replied. "So, did it work?"

"Faith..." Buffy trailed off as she stared at her before lowering her head as the blush crept over her cheeks. "God, I feel like such a moron."

"Why, B?"

"Because I want more."

"More of what?" Faith asked, having a feeling what she meant, but needing to hear it for herself.

"Everything," Buffy whispered as she looked over at her and smiled shyly. "God, I've never...I've never done this before, but all I can think about is how much I want to be with you. It's crazy for me to feel this way, for way too many reasons too, isn't it?"

She wanted to tell Buffy it wasn't crazy, that it was okay to feel whatever she was feeling despite knowing that yes, it was crazy for her to feel more than friendly feelings for her after all they'd gone through together. She licked her lower lip, debating whether to say anything. She barely took a breath before Buffy leaned in and kissed her softly, both of them sighing contentedly as their lips met. Faith was holding herself back, not wanting to dominate the kiss, allowing Buffy to take it however far, fast, or slow she wanted to. She almost felt like pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming all of this, but she completely lost her train of thought as Buffy ran her tongue over her lips, waiting for Faith to take the offer to deepen the kiss.

They kissed for what felt like hours. It made Faith weak in the knees despite the fact that she was sitting down. She'd never quite been kissed that way, so tenderly, so deeply, and so full of passion. It had always been hard and fast with her in the past, but here with Buffy it was something else entirely.

"Oh god, what are we doing?" Buffy whispered as she broke away from the kiss, panting slightly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Ain't it obvious, B?" Faith said, unable to stop the smirk from creeping over her lips as Buffy pulled her in for another kiss.

Faith had that lingering feeling that everything would come crashing down and end rather badly between them, but it didn't stop her from kissing Buffy with everything that she had. Her hands were aching to roam over Buffy's body, to feel her soft skin beneath her fingertips, but she knew that was one step too far too fast, not just for Buffy but also for herself. Faith pulled back from the kiss, licking over her kiss-swollen lips as she smiled at Buffy.

"Okay wow," Buffy laughed softly. "That was even better than last night."

"Yeah? You still don't know why, do you?"

"No," Buffy grinned, looking a little more confident and sure of herself as she ran her fingers over Faith's thigh slowly. "Maybe we could...do it again?"

"I'm not gonna say no to that, B, but don't you think we should try and figure out what's going on between us before we..."

"I don't know what's going on between us," Buffy said, cutting her off. "I just know that after that kiss, it just felt right. That's why it feels so crazy to me because it feels right to kiss you. It feels like..."

She stopped when the basement door opened and Faith groaned in frustration as Kennedy came down the stairs. One of these days she was going to end up hurting Kennedy for interrupting her and Buffy when they were having a moment together. She just forced a smile as Kennedy sat on the steps behind them and groaned softly.

"Research is so fucking boring," she muttered as she looked down at them. "I should've just come down with you two before. I want to gouge my eyes out."

Faith chuckled as she looked over at Buffy, who did not look pleased that they'd been interrupted yet again. They sat down there in complete silence for a while before going back upstairs to join the others with hopes that they wouldn't be forced into researching with them. The power was back on by then even though the storm was still raging outside. Giles told them as soon as they'd joined everyone in the living room that he'd gotten in touch with Henry and that he and his wife would be coming for dinner that night.

Faith ended up going out on the front porch alone, standing by the railing and watching the storm as it raged on overhead. She felt like she was floating from that kiss she'd had down in the basement with Buffy. It had never felt like that for her before and her mind was swimming, questioning why it hadn't. She kept asking herself how Buffy could suddenly have these feelings for her, why she even wanted to kiss her—and wondering just what Buffy had meant when she said she wanted everything.

She had what felt like a permanent smile etched over her lips and she couldn't quite shake it. Buffy was right when she said that it felt right to kiss her. She'd felt the same thing too. Now she was starting to see why Buffy thought it was so crazy to feel this way. They'd never had these types of feelings for each other before and there was more than just a friendship building between them—so much more. As much as it scared Faith to think of what more it could turn out to be, she could feel the hope building in her that it'd be something neither of them had ever experienced before with anyone else.

There only was one thing she was afraid of—the fact that she knew she'd end up hurting Buffy when she couldn't give Buffy everything she wanted. It was different than it had been when Robin was still alive. He didn't intimidate her with the prospect of a relationship. With Buffy she was scared shitless because it was Buffy.

"Did you want to be alone?" Buffy asked softly as she stood in the open doorway.

"Nah, I was just thinking and watching the storm."

"Thinking about what?"

"You."

"Oh."

"Nothing bad, B," Faith chuckled softly as Buffy stood next to her. "Kind of know now how you've been feeling cos I'm feeling it too."

"Downstairs, before Kennedy came down, I was going to say how this feels so fast and how it's just...how we've kind of just jumped headfirst into the unknown since last night. I'm scared of what I'm feeling, Faith. I'm really scared."

"I am too," she whispered softly, keeping her eyes up on the sky above as the lightning crawled over the black clouds in the sky.

"This is..."

"Crazy, I know, right?" Faith chuckled as she casually reached for Buffy's hand and intertwined their fingers as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do. "Where do we go from here, B?"

"I really don't know."

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. "I have no idea either. Never been through something like this before. You're honestly the last person I ever thought I'd..."

"You'd what?"

"Have a chance with," she finished under her breath, not daring to look over at Buffy as she spoke to see her reaction. She didn't need to look at her to know that she was smiling. She could just feel it. "I don't know what you want from me, Buffy, and that's what scares me the most…not knowing that. I don't know what I can offer you that nobody else can. I've never...done this before."

"Done what exactly?"

"This," Faith said as she motioned between them, still not looking at Buffy. "Whatever this is, I've never done it before."

"Oh."

"So tell me, Buffy, what is it that you want from me?"

"I really don't know, Faith."

Faith let out an exasperated sigh as she looked down at their still-joined hands. She smiled a little to herself as she lifted Buffy's hand and placed a gentle kiss upon it as she turned to look at her. Her heart felt like it leapt into her throat as she tried to find the right words to say. She'd never been good at saying the right thing, but she wanted to try. She had to try.

"Whatever is happening between us, maybe we should just let it happen and see where it takes us?" Faith's voice was shaky, but as the words came out she knew she was sure of them.

"I can deal with that."

"This is just fuckin' crazy, Buffy. I just can't seem to wrap my head around this whole thing. How the hell did this happen?"

"I don't know. I've been asking myself that since last night. Maybe it's all the time we've been spending together since we left Sunnydale? We never spent this much time together before."

"We've never gone this long without fighting, either. You don't think this is a sign of an apocalypse coming, do you?" Faith chuckled softly. Buffy just gave her a look before she laughed along with her.

"I really hope you aren't right, Faith. We just had one hell of a fight against the First. I don't think I'm ready for another one just yet."

"I don't think any of us are."

"So," Buffy breathed out softly, "we're just going to let this happen? How do we do that?"

"I really don't know. Shit, this is one of those things you wish you had the answers to, yet you know that you won't get the answers if you look too hard for them. I'm really starting to feel like I've stepped into another dimension where this," she said as she looked down at their joined hands, "happens all the time, like it's the most perfectly natural thing in the world to happen to us."

"Maybe it is and we've done nothing but fight it and deny it all this time?"

Faith blinked, not sure if she was hearing what Buffy was actually saying or if she was just hearing what she wanted to hear. She couldn't get over how much everything had just changed between them virtually overnight. In her world, things like that never happened to her. Ever.

They stayed out there and watched the storm together until mid-afternoon, when the last of it finally passed them by. No other words were said, only small, shy smiles exchanged whenever they looked at each other at the same time. Faith kept fighting that urge to kiss her again, wanting for once in her life to take things slow. The last thing she wanted was for them to pursue whatever was unfolding between them and for her to end up breaking Buffy's heart. Nobody had ever made her feel this way and never had she been so worried about hurting anyone else that way, either. The changes she was going through, what Buffy was going through—it was all happening so fast and she wanted to take a giant step back before they were in so far, so deep, that they couldn't pull themselves out.

After a long, lazy afternoon, they all ended up in the kitchen cooking dinner for Henry and his wife. Giles was rather excited to meet the man and Faith couldn't blame him. They needed contacts there in Cleveland that knew the workings of the underground and where to go to find out vital information. They couldn't rely on research or what was left of the Council, that being essentially a bare handful of Watchers even Giles suspected weren't entirely on the good side of things.

Those long, lingering gazes and small, shy smiles continued between her and Buffy up until Henry and his wife showed up at the door promptly at six o'clock as planned. She ended up in the kitchen with Xander and Kennedy, sipping on a cold beer and listening to the rapid conversation unfolding in the living room. Giles and Henry did most of the talking, sharing stories and making plans to have Henry be a part of a weekly meeting between all of them. Kennedy just rolled her eyes and grabbed another beer out of the fridge, shaking her head in disbelief as she joined Faith where she sat on top of the counter.

"How the hell do we know we can trust this guy?" Kennedy asked as she twisted off the cap and took a sip. "Seriously. We just met the guy and Giles is all buddy-buddy with him?"

"Just give the guy the benefit of the doubt 'til he gives us a reason not to trust him," Faith replied quietly as she picked at the label on her bottle. "He knows a lot of things any mere normal human being wouldn't or shouldn't know."

"Whatever. I still say we shouldn't trust the guy until he gives us a damn good reason to."

"Is that the way you are around everyone you just met?" Xander asked Kennedy as he walked up to stand in front of them, staring at both of them for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh. "Maybe you are right, Ken. Maybe we shouldn't trust him until he gives us a reason to. The others don't seem to think that way."

Faith was torn, not knowing how to feel about Henry and his wife Laura. From the bits of the conversation she could hear, they were just an old, sweet couple who had lived their whole lives there in Cleveland, always knowing about the creatures that went bump in the night and lurked behind every dark corner. Willow and Laura were talking spells, as expected, and she could hear the excitement in Willow's voice when Laura told her she'd teach her more than she ever thought she'd be able to know.

Whether they could trust them or not, they seemed to have the potential to fit easily into the tightly knit group they had formed since they arrived there. Despite all the little circumstances and the things that were unfolding—not just between her and Buffy, but also with the Hellmouth and everything related to it—things were going rather good. It made her feel restless because she knew that whenever things were going good, something bad was bound to happen eventually.

And she had that sinking feeling she couldn't shake off that their luck was definitely about to run out.