Faith stayed in LA for three days, sleeping—barely—on Wesley's couch and going out slaying at night, trying and failing to keep her mind off what had happened and her emotions in check. She'd called Giles the morning after she killed Angel to tell him it went down without a single problem. Even he was surprised at the lack of a fight between them and he didn't say much more other than he was relieved they wouldn't have to worry about it any longer. He informed her then that Buffy and Dawn had packed up and left for Italy and that they had taken Andrew with them. When she'd finally fallen asleep on the worn couch, she dreamt of Buffy and let go of the hope that it was a shared dream with her the instant she woke up.

She felt like a zombie when she boarded the plane early Friday morning and when the plane landed, that emptiness filled her even more the second she stepped off the plane. Xander was waiting for her and as soon as she spotted him they headed straight out to the parking lot, Xander asking her a dozen questions along the way. Questions she wasn't ready to answer, nor did she want to right then. He seemed to get it by the time they reached the van and she slung her bag into the back seat as she climbed into the passenger side.

"Got a case of beer at the house if you want to come by," Xander said as he slid the key into the ignition but didn't start it yet.

"Sounds good."

"You know that's the first thing you've said to me since you got off the plane."

"Don't got much to say right now, Xand."

"Dawn told me to tell you that she's going to make sure Buffy comes back with her and Andrew."

"How'd Andrew end up taggin' along with 'em?"

"Dawnie talked him into it," Xander shrugged, finally starting the engine and proceeding to back out of the parking space. "She thought it'd be a good idea. Why, I really don't know."

Faith let out a short laugh as she propped her feet up on the dashboard and rolled down the window. The flight had been long and although she'd been lost in her own thoughts, in a daze, the annoying kids that sat behind her had made it exhausting.

"Kennedy left these in here last night," Xander said as he retrieved a pack of cigarettes from the back seat and offered it to her. She nodded a thank you as she took one out and used the lighter she always kept in her pocket to light it. "Giles had us moving most of the books over to the apartment building. Headquarters we're gonna call it for now."

"Cool."

"The basement there is huge, bigger than we originally thought once we knocked out a few walls. A couple guys I've been working with lately are helping us get it set up as a proper training room. If Kennedy is getting excited about it, I know you will be too."

Faith just nodded, leaning her head back against the seat as she took a drag from the cigarette and stared out the open window. Xander told her about a few more girls that had shown up there, having been sent from various parts of the world by the handful of Watchers Giles had going around looking for them and 'recruiting' them. Most of them were young, under sixteen, but there were a couple that were nearly twenty years old. Xander told her how there were younger girls out there, some as young as five, but they'd wait to train them until they were at least sixteen years old. She didn't want to put her two cents in, telling him that she'd been training with her Watcher for a year before she was called. She also didn't bother to bring up the fact that Satsu, Carmen, and Amber had been training most of their lives. Just like her, Xander seemed a little lost and a little empty inside.

He didn't talk about anything else, including Buffy, during the whole ride to the house. Faith jumped out of the van as soon as it came to a stop in the driveway and she could immediately hear Kennedy and the others talking in the back yard. She went inside first, however, dropping her bag at the foot of the stairs and heading straight for the fridge in the kitchen. She downed half a beer in one go before turning around to find Willow standing right behind her.

"Jesus, Red. Any way we can make you wear a bell?"

"Nice to see you're back in one piece," Willow replied rather coldly as Faith walked around her and headed for the back door. "I'll take it you don't want to talk about what happened in LA?"

"No. Ya want some sorta prize or somethin' for gettin' it right?"

"An actual body would be nice."

Faith chuckled under her breath as she opened the back door and stepped outside. Kennedy and Satsu were lounging under the tree, engaged in what looked to be a rather private conversation between the two of them. Xander was standing by the remains of the gazebo he'd built before, now completely smashed to the ground.

"What happened?" Faith asked as she walked over to him.

"Demon. Buffy threw it at it. Followed her the other night. Here I thought I was the only one to attract the demons."

"Damn," Faith smirked as she watched Xander take a kick at a piece of wood before letting out a heavy sigh. "Look on the bright side. Wood for a bonfire."

"Definitely looking on the bright side of things here, aren't you?"

"Gotta try to at least. You gonna try to fix it up?"

"Why bother?" Xander asked as he let out a discouraged groan. "Heard you ran into Willow inside."

"Yeah. We need to make her wear a bell," Faith chuckled. "Snuck up behind me. Too bad these Slayer senses don't pick up on the non-corporeal types."

"She's been having a lot of fun the last couple of days just popping up. Almost gave Giles a heart attack yesterday morning. And she's been talking to Jackie a lot, too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Talking about all these things we've been trying to do around here lately, you know with the house and with Headquarters, with the younger Slayers coming in. Jackie thinks we might be a little in over our heads, and I'd say your mother is a wise woman, Faith. I've got to agree with her about the in over our heads thing."

"Eh. We might be, but we'll get through it."

Xander grinned before he clinked the bottle of beer in his hand against hers. They joined Kennedy and Satsu on the blanket spread out under the tree and Faith couldn't help but almost expect Buffy to come out and join them any minute now. Kennedy flashed her a sympathetic smile almost as if she knew that Faith's heart was aching for Buffy. She tried to shake it off, not feeling entirely comfortable wearing her emotions so clearly for everyone to see.

Faith stayed out there long enough to finish her beer before she went back inside, grabbing her pack and heading straight for the apartment. The hot summer sun made the short walk unbearable and as soon as she was inside her apartment, she felt the tears spring to her eyes. It wasn't just her apartment, it had been hers and Buffy's even for the short time they'd been there. She walked to the bedroom, expecting the mountains of clothes—Buffy's clothes—to still be there, but it was nearly empty, the closet door still wide open. Faith kicked her bag across the room, it hitting the far wall with a loud thump as she walked over to the bed and sat down heavily.

The next couple of days were going to weigh heavily on her, she knew, and with one last sigh she gave up and let the tears fall. She laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling miserably, blinking through the tears as the last few sleepless nights began to hit her.


For three weeks, Faith spent her days training the younger Slayers and her nights out on patrol. For three weeks, she tried not to think about Buffy and failed. For three weeks, she'd been waiting for Buffy to come back, or even call, and it never happened. And for three weeks, she felt like she was slipping and fading away from everything she'd become since the fall of Sunnydale.

The look in Angel's eyes the moment the arrow had pierced through his heart had haunted her every single night since it had happened. It made her wake up in a cold sweat, reaching through the darkness towards the empty side of the bed, half expecting Buffy to be there to hold her. It was in those moments that the tears started to fall and she found herself getting out of bed to go next door. If she was lucky she'd find Kennedy awake and would sit out on the balcony with her until the sun rose and the alcohol they'd drunk had numbed her completely.

Tonight, however, was different. Tonight she knew it'd been exactly three weeks since she'd come back to Cleveland, one whole week past Buffy's promise to come back in two weeks. She had patrol with Perry and Marshall and a few of the younger Slayers, but her mind was solely on Buffy. She was seriously thinking of hopping on a plane as soon as they were finished with patrol and flying to Italy to find Buffy and bring her home. Marshall took her aside on the second sweep through the cemetery and made her sit down on the bench at the side of the path.

"What's going on with you tonight, Lehane?"

"Nothin's goin' on with me tonight."

"You've been distracted and careless since we got here. Tell me straight up what's going on with you," Marshall said and she shrugged it off, trying not to show just how upset she really was. "It's your girl being gone, isn't it?"

Faith nodded and fought off the tears by pulling out her pack of smokes and quickly lighting one. Marshall sat down next to her and let out a sigh as he shook his head. "What?" Faith asked as she turned to him. "So I fuckin' miss Buffy, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is the fact that even I know she was supposed to be back a week ago."

"So?"

"So," Marshall sighed as he casually put his arm around her shoulders. "What are you waiting for, Lehane? Go get your girl and bring her back home."

"That's seriously freaky," Faith said with a short laugh. "Was just thinkin' of hopping on a plane soon as we're done here."

"What'll you do when you find her?"

"Bring her home."

"What if it's not that simple?"

Faith shrugged, taking a long drag of her cigarette before she turned to look at him. "Then I dunno, man. I'll figure it out."

"I hope so. Come on, forget patrol," Marshall said as he stood up. "I'll drive you to the airport right now and get you on the first flight to Italy. You even know where in Italy they are?"

"Xander said they're stayin' in some small town few hours away from Milan. Dunno. Just know if I can get over there I'll find her one way or another."

"You won't need to go to Italy," Dawn said as she walked up behind them. "Buffy isn't in Italy anymore."

"Dawnie?" Faith said as she jumped up from the bench. "When did you get back?"

"An hour ago," she replied, looking and sounding absolutely exhausted.

"Is Buffy back too?" Faith asked, trying not to get her hopes up too much. "Dawn? Where is she?"

"At your apartment waiting for you."

"Marshall, tell the others I ducked out early," Faith said as she flicked her cigarette to the ground. He gave a nod and she wasted not a second more before running out of the cemetery and all the way back to the apartment.

Every part of her was so relieved she wouldn't have to trek all the way to Italy to find Buffy and bring her back home, but something felt a little off. She tried to shake it off as she ran up the stairs to the fifth floor and that ever familiar buzz she felt around Buffy hit her hard. As she approached the apartment door she took a few deep breaths, steadying herself, before finally walking in. There were suitcases piled up by the door, but as she looked around she didn't see Buffy anywhere. She felt her, though, and walked on into the bedroom to find her sitting on the floor by the closet taking out shoes from the dozens of boxes that lay scattered around her.

"Is this why ya stayed in Italy for an extra week, B?"

"No," she laughed as she got up from the floor and nearly jumped into Faith's arms. "Okay, yes. But it was so hard to resist!"

Faith chuckled as she held onto her for a good couple of minutes, just wanting to hold her in her arms as if she'd forgotten what it felt like to do just that. She felt like an idiot for spending the last three weeks moping around and letting it get to her head the way it had. She'd really believed Buffy wasn't coming back, especially after all the things Buffy had said to her before. A part of her wanted to call Buffy on the mind fuck she'd put her through, but she couldn't—not now that Buffy was softly kissing her neck and throwing her for a loop and a half. She had to stop her, she knew she did, but her body wasn't listening to her brain as Buffy leaned in and planted a soft, tender kiss on her lips.

"I'm so sorry about everything I said before I left and I am so sorry I never called you while we were there."

"B," she sighed as she dropped her arms from around her and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You needed to get outta here for awhile, I totally get that. Shoulda just said you needed a vacation instead of feeding me all that shit that...that really fucked with my head."

"I'm sorry," Buffy frowned as she sat down next to her. "God, Faith. With everything we've been through in the last couple of months, I just overreacted and yeah, I said a lot of stuff to you I probably shouldn't have said. I didn't want to fuck with your head. Honestly I didn't."

"I know."

"Angel being gone...it feels a little empty."

"And ya filled that emptiness with shoes?" Faith asked, chuckling softly when Buffy just rolled her eyes at her. "It feels a little empty for me too, B."

"I keep wishing that it could have been different. That we could have somehow fixed him, you know?" Buffy said, her voice filling with emotion as she reached for Faith's hand, intertwining their fingers as the first few tears began to fall. "Even how I felt when you left to...to kill him, I knew it was the right thing to do. I should've been there with you, Faith. Took me three weeks, but I realize that now."

"Don't wanna sound all needy 'n shit, but when I got back I really needed ya here, B. Y'know I was thinkin' tonight of seriously hopping on a plane and flying out to Italy to drag your ass back home."

"What, would you have slung me over your shoulder and carried me on the plane if I refused?"

"Nah," Faith smirked as she gently squeezed her hand. "You wouldn't have refused, B."

"You're right, I wouldn't have. I missed you so much, Faith. It took me being apart from you for three weeks to realize just how much you mean to me."

"And how much is that?"

"You are my world now," Buffy whispered softly as she moved to straddle Faith's legs, her hands gently cupping the brunette's face as she stared down into her eyes. "I'm more in love with you than I thought I was before I left. I was pretty upset over Angel. Okay, I was really upset over Angel once I found out you'd faced him and killed him without much of a fight."

"I think even as Angelus he wanted it to happen, B. Wouldn't have been so fuckin' easy if it was any other way."

"I know. I know that now. God, I'm so sorry I said all those things to you. I thought if I left you'd move on, find someone else. I didn't mean it when I told you I wasn't coming back. When I said that I was...I was being so stubborn and selfish, but I—"

"Ain't nobody else for me," Faith said softly, smiling as Buffy leaned in for a very soft kiss. "And in case ya don't know this already, I love ya even if you are stubborn and selfish at times."

Faith wanted to ask her if she was dreaming all of this, if she'd been knocked on the head during patrol and had blacked out at one point or another. It felt real and it didn't and she hoped to hell this wasn't all a dream or she'd be really, really pissed off. She knew if she didn't love Buffy as much as she did, she wouldn't take her apology so easily and act as if everything that had happened wasn't such a big deal. In a way it wasn't, it just proved to her that Buffy had been confused before, confused about her feelings for Angel, for her, and that she'd been feeling god knows what else that made her say the things she did that had nearly ripped Faith's heart out of her chest.

"So, we're good now?" Faith asked softly, her fingers running over Buffy's smooth and very tanned legs, stopping at the hem of her shorts. "You ain't gonna leave like that again without me, are ya?"

"I won't leave like that again. I promise. Dawn and Andrew kept telling me how stupid it was to run away like that instead of being here with you."

"They speak nothing but the truth," Faith smirked, now struggling to control her libido as she felt Buffy's smooth skin under her fingertips. "We been through a lot of shit together, that was one more thing we had to get through. And before ya ask, B, no I didn't see anyone else while you were gone."

"I wasn't going to ask you that since I just knew you hadn't."

"Ya really trust me now, huh?"

"Of course I do, Faith. Every day you'd shown me a side of yourself you never bothered to show me before and every day you gave me a reason to completely trust you. I don't ever want that to change."

"Ain't gonna change, B. God, would ya listen to me? Sound like I'm pussy whipped here and if I didn't know any better I'd think ya were some crazy chick playin' head games with me."

Buffy laughed and shook her head, smiling as she ran her fingers gently through Faith's tousled hair. "Definitely not crazy, Faith. Sometimes I get a little unsure about things in my life and the thing with Angel kind of threw me for a pretty messy loop."

"Just like the ones you been throwing me for since the night ya first kissed me, huh?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't you be out on patrol right now?"

"Fuck patrol," Faith said under her breath as she pulled Buffy in for a kiss, stopping short just as their lips met. "I ain't seen ya in three weeks, ya really think I'm gonna be out there when I could be right here right now with you?"

Buffy thought for a moment, pouting slightly, and let out a small laugh as Faith leaned in and captured her bottom lip between her teeth. She sighed into the kiss, pulling Buffy impossibly closer to her as she deepened the kiss, easily finding herself lost within the warm confines of her lips and tongue. She pulled away slightly, kissing the pout that slipped out when she did, and she stared into Buffy's eyes, wondering how it was so possible just to suddenly forget the last three weeks of being apart.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You," Faith replied with a smile. "Fuck, B...sometimes I just...I dunno, with you I just forget about everything else and even now, just kissing you, it doesn't feel like you've been gone and yet it does at the same time. Does that even make any sense?"

"Perfect sense, because I'm feeling that way too right now."

They looked over at the bedroom door as Willow cleared her throat. "Isn't that so sweet?" She laughed as she shook her head at the two of them. "Sure didn't take you long to get over here, Faith."

"No," Faith smirked as she let Buffy get up from her lap. "What are you doin' here, Red?"

"Red?" Buffy asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Forget it. What are you doing here?"

"Seems like nobody told me you were back home."

"Seriously need to make her wear a fuckin' bell," Faith muttered under her breath. She watched as Buffy walked over to sit back down near the stack of shoe boxes, continuing her interrupted task of removing the shoes from their boxes and placing them on the closet floor. "Seriously, B. How many fuckin' shoes did you buy?"

"I bet that's not even half of what she bought," Willow said with a laugh as she stood at the end of the bed. "Am I right, Buffy?"

Buffy's face flushed red a little and shrugged as she continued pulling the shoes from the boxes. Faith rolled her eyes, leaned back on her elbows, and watched Buffy. She turned to Willow, wanting to ask her to leave, but she didn't. As soon as Buffy finished up, she stood up and smirked at Faith who just laid there with an eyebrow raised, mildly amused.

"Will? Can we talk in the morning?" Buffy asked as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

"You and Faith and some much needed alone time, huh?" Willow asked, smirking as she shook her head. "I get it. I just wanted to come see if you were back with my own two eyes. You know the younger girls and the way gossip just flutters through them. Don't know what to believe sometimes."

"Right."

"I'd give you a hug, but..." Willow laughed dryly. "Yeah. I'll come by in the morning. We'll talk and catch up then. I want to hear all about Italy and you better be prepared to tell me absolutely everything missy."

Faith laughed as she watched Willow leave, then reached out for Buffy and pulled her down on top of her. "Damn, 'bout fucking time. You're gonna hafta talk to her about just appearing in here outta nowhere, B."

Buffy nodded her head as Faith reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears before pulling her down for a deep, passionate kiss. She wanted to flip Buffy over, rip off her clothes and make love to her all night long, but she held herself back, getting lost in the kiss and in the feel of Buffy's body nearly flush against her own. It was no longer hard to push her libido aside, she'd done it plenty of times in the last three weeks, but as the kiss grew more intense and their hands began to wander, she felt that burning heat growing in the pit of her stomach and flooding to her core.

"Faith," Buffy sighed out as she broke away from the kiss, "you're buzzing."

"Fuck," she groaned as she reached for her cell in her pocket and checked to see who was calling. "It's only Perry."

Faith tossed the phone to the floor after she'd turned it off and pulled Buffy back in towards her. She had to blink a couple of times only to make sure she wasn't dreaming that Buffy really was back. She laughed as she started thinking about everything, about Angel, about the things Buffy had said to her that nearly broke her heart. But she thought more about Angel and the confrontation they had before she aimed the crossbow at him and pulled the trigger. She'd had so many dreams of that moment in the last three weeks and every time it went down differently. Sometimes there was a fight she barely could walk away from, other times it was easy just like it really had been.

"What are you thinking about?" Buffy asked as she stared down into Faith's eyes.

"Angel."

"Oh."

"It was too easy, Buffy."

"What did you expect then? Some epic fight to go down between you two?"

"I dunno."

"What happened?" Buffy asked as she moved to lay next to Faith instead of on top of her. "Tell me what happened, Faith."

"He found me. I was out walking around and I saw him. Followed him. We traded a few words, then it was over."

"How did you..."

"Crossbow."

"Your weapon of choice," Buffy said flatly. "How come he didn't fight?"

"Beats me," she shrugged as she stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "He thought you were the one coming to kill him. Maybe he woulda fought if you'd been there instead of me. Guess we'll never know now, will we?"

"Guess not. I half expected you to come back, telling me you couldn't do it, that you couldn't kill him or that you couldn't find him. You're right. Angel did want this. He wouldn't have made it so easy to put Angelus in front of you and let you take him out."

"He wasn't..."

"He wasn't what?"

"He wasn't Angelus when I killed him, B."

"You told me already."

Faith sighed as Buffy ran her fingers over her stomach, playing with the hem of her shirt and tickling the skin that was exposed near it. she just wanted to forget everything that had happened, she wanted to push it out of her mind and focus on the woman she loved that lay there next to her. It was hard, though, and in the last three weeks she'd gone through heartbreak and despair for nothing, really. Most of the last three weeks, if not longer, had felt like a dream to her and even now, she wasn't so sure if she was dreaming or if this really was real. It was almost how she'd felt when she was told that Jackie was her mother, but not quite the same.

"At least he's not going to be around to try to come between us."

"Yeah," Faith shrugged as she turned to look at her. "Sure makes ya wonder how many lines of bullshit he fed us that whole time."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Faith. It's over and we're here together now. If there's one other thing I realized while I was gone, it was how stupid I was to leave like that."

"B, I get it. You feel like ya fucked up by leavin' cos of what I had to do. I'm over it."

"How over it?"

"Enough to want to spend the rest of the night right here with you, preferably naked and makin' ya scream my name 'til your throat's raw and ya beg me to stop."

Buffy bit her lip as Faith rolled them over and stared down at her. "I think..." Buffy sighed as she smiled up at her. "I think that's the best way to spend any night, Faith."

"This is why you're my girl, B. Turned ya into a little sex fiend over the last little while. Unless," she laughed as she kissed her lightly, "ya always been like this and I just brought ya outta your shell."

"I've always been like this I think," Buffy replied softly, smiling right back at Faith as she slipped her hands under her shirt and raked her nails down her back. "It's just better with you. I think it's because I'm in love with you, Faith. Sometimes I'm so in love with you that it's hard to believe I am and it's hard to believe that we have this...this great relationship..."

"Not to mention a great sex life," Faith said pointedly, grinning with pride when Buffy nodded her head in agreement. She laughed when she realized how easy it was to go from thinking about Angel, about the last three weeks, about how she thought she'd lost Buffy for good, to thinking of ripping off her clothes and making love to her, fucking her, all night long.

"I want to make it up to you."

"Make what up to me, B? You being gone for three weeks?" Faith asked, and Buffy only nodded in reply, looking a little shameful at that. "Only thing you can do is kiss me, B. That'll be a nice start to the whole making up thing ya wanna do."

"And then?"

"And then," Faith said slowly as she moved to one side and trailed her fingers to the hem of Buffy's shirt, "you can stop thinking about the past and focus on one thing right here and now."

"What's that?"

"This," Faith said as she slipped her hand under Buffy's shirt and ran it up to cup her breast through the soft lace bra. She could feel the nipple harden as her thumb brushed over it and she could only smirk as Buffy closed her eyes and tried not to let out the moan she knew was coming. She moved her hand from her breast and back down her taut stomach, whispering the words against her lips as she fumbled with the button on her shorts, "and this too."

Buffy pulled her down for a deep kiss as Faith slipped her hand into the blonde's shorts and under the waistband of her panties, her fingers teasing the skin as Buffy tried to raise her hips, to encourage her to keep going without teasing her. Buffy was already wet for her, which was no surprise to either of them, and Faith deftly slipped her middle finger over Buffy's clit and moaned into her mouth as Buffy's hips jerked up at the touch. It wouldn't take much to get her to come and Faith knew that one touch from Buffy would send her tumbling over the edge herself. Since they'd been together, they'd never gone more than a day without sex and three weeks was just too long for both of them.

Buffy was tugging at her clothes, trying to get them off, but Faith wasn't having any of it, at least not just yet. They had the whole rest of the night for themselves and the last thing Faith wanted to do was rush things between them. It was a far cry from her former self, hard and fast, get some get gone, and she wouldn't have it any other way or with anyone else. She mentally had her fingers crossed and tried to keep her mind focused on the feel of Buffy's pussy as her fingers slid between her folds and dipped teasingly into her hot, wet hole. The heat was scorching and it filled her in ways she never thought possible. If she was addicted to anything now, it was to Buffy and the way she could make her come within minutes if she didn't tease her.

"Clothes...off..." Buffy groaned as she broke away from the kiss, gasping as Faith shook her head no and plunged a finger deep inside of her.

"Later," Faith whispered, her lips trailing over Buffy's as she gasped again. "Right now I just need to be inside of you. I need to make you feel the way I know you needed to feel for the last three weeks."

"Fuck..."

"I need to make you know that you belong to me and I plan to spend the entire night doing just that."

"Faith..."

"I'm gonna fuck you so good ya won't be able to move, much less walk. That's how you'll know you are mine. That's how you'll know that the last three weeks I've done nothing but think of you and dream of you."

Buffy moaned softly as Faith's lips met hers in a crushing kiss. The last three weeks were about to come crashing down on both of them and Faith was trying to keep some control over her raging libido even though the urge to truly mark Buffy as her own was almost too strong. Buffy was squirming beneath her as her fingers pumped in and out of her at a blinding pace. She could almost feel Buffy's eyes roll back as she deepened the kiss even more, never stopping, not even for a second, until Buffy clutched at her back as her orgasm almost literally ripped through her.

Faith tried to move, but Buffy was holding on to her so tightly that she couldn't just yet. She wiggled her fingers still buried inside of Buffy's pussy and chuckled softly as Buffy then pushed her off roughly. Faith just laid there on her side just staring over at Buffy, watching as her flushed face turned back to normal and she had a look of complete contentment on her face. After a couple minutes passed and Buffy didn't say a word or even open her eyes, Faith knew she'd fallen asleep. Normally it'd bother her, but right now it didn't and she wasn't so sure why.

She stayed there for a little while just watching Buffy sleep, her eyes memorizing every inch of her anew even though she'd never forget even the smallest detail no matter how long they'd spent apart. When she heard the soft snores she slipped off the bed and out of the bedroom, taking one last long look at Buffy before she flipped off the light and quietly closed the door behind her. The last three weeks had been emotionally and physically draining and even though she'd hoped for more tonight, it felt like enough. For now.

Faith took in a few deep breaths before she headed for the fridge and grabbed a cold beer off the top shelf. As she took her beer out onto the balcony with her and sat down on the plastic chair she could faintly hear Kennedy and Satsu in the apartment next door. The sounds of the city also drifted on the breeze, and although it was the middle of the night they were calming to her. She'd never survive in a small, middle of nowhere town. The quietness would literally kill her slowly and surely.

"Busy?" Willow asked, nearly making Faith jump from the chair. "No? Mind if I join you for awhile?"

"I'd say take a seat, but I don't think ya need to sit or whatever," Faith shrugged, trying to shake it off. "And I was fuckin' serious about you wearin' a bell or somethin', Red."

"Sorry," she muttered under her breath. "I heard you come out. I thought you and Buffy would've been in there all night."

"So did I."

"Everything okay between you two?"

"Yeah. Guess so. Thought it woulda been worse considerin' why she left and everything."

Willow nodded and looked out over the city, at least what they could see. Faith echoed her sigh as she cracked open her beer and downed nearly half the bottle in one go. As much as she wanted to be left alone, she kind of felt bad for Willow. Having died and come back the way she was and have her whole life changed couldn't be easy to deal with. In the few talks they'd had, random bursts of words that barely passed for conversation, Faith had nonetheless learned that Willow would rather be anywhere but there and as she was. She'd felt like that most of her life until things started changing between her and Buffy.

She tried to clear her mind of everything that had unfolded over the last couple of weeks. She tried not to think of Angel and how things went down, how easy it was. She tried not to think about how Buffy had left. None of it seemed to matter now. Buffy was back and she seemed like she was back to her normal self, at least her normal self that she'd been in the time they'd been together. She tried not to think of all the overpowering emotions she'd been feeling since they'd all arrived in Cleveland, but it was hard—especially when every breath she took, she felt everything.

She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift out as sirens could be heard a short distance away. She thought of what Buffy said to her before, about her being her world now. She felt exactly the same way and she wondered if she always had. Honestly, though? She already knew the answer to that. It was yes, she always had.