Faith walked behind Buffy, taking one long drag after another from her third—possibly fourth—cigarette since they headed out on patrol. Jessie was walking next to her, acting like the spoiled brat Faith had come to know her as. Carmen was ahead of them by a good ten feet, twirling her stake without a single care in the world. It was going to be a long night and Faith wanted to be anywhere but there. She knew Buffy did too, she could feel it coming off her in waves.
They were supposed to monitor Carmen and Jessie, make sure they worked as a team on patrol instead of trying to kill each other, but so far things weren't going as planned. It was aggravating Faith and she wanted nothing more than to set the two of them straight in her own way. Her way being leaving them alone to fight each other and put themselves at risk with all the things that went bump in the night that were just lurking in the shadows, waiting for their moment to come out and play.
"It's going to be a slow night," Buffy said quietly as she hung back and let Faith catch up with her.
"Thinkin' we should leave them two alone for a little while."
"Are you crazy?"
"Probably," Faith chuckled as she flicked her cigarette to the ground. "They're gonna hafta learn to cut the shit and play nice sooner or later, right?"
"Preferably without trying to kill each other first," Buffy replied quietly, slipping an arm around Faith's waist as they both leaned up against a tree at the side of the pathway. "Even we weren't as bad as they are with each other."
"No, but then again we never had the chance to get like that."
Faith sounded rather bitter and she didn't want to get into this with Buffy now. They wanted to leave their past behind and move on as best as they could and she was fully determined to do just that. She just wanted to stay happy with Buffy, to stay in love, to keep from drifting apart. Three weeks without Buffy had been torture on her mind, on her soul, and her heart and she never again wanted to have to go through feeling that again for as long as she could help it.
"Everything feels different," Buffy whispered as she leaned into Faith, both watching as Carmen and Jessie exchange a look before walking off in separate directions. "Not with you, but everything here feels different now, Faith."
"It is different now, B. Been that way since ya left."
"I keep thinking about Angel. I keep thinking about what you've told me about facing him, about how easy it was for you to take him out."
"Like I said, I'm thinkin' he wanted it to be that easy, B. Thinkin' that the way things were headed for him, he decided he was fuckin' done. Wanted out."
"I'm going to miss him like crazy. I already do."
"I know," she sighed as she leaned over and kissed the side of Buffy's head gently. "I'm gonna miss him like crazy too, B. Wherever he is now, he's in a better place."
"Is he?"
"Could be? Who knows? Now's probably not a good time to talk about this shit, B."
"It'll never be a good time," Buffy groaned softly. They stepped away from each other as they both spotted a small group of vampires making their way towards them. "Just when I thought it'd be a slow night tonight."
"Newbies," Faith said quietly as she pulled her stake out from the back of her jeans. "Easy as cake."
"They should be fighting them, not us," Buffy said angrily as the taller of the vampires charged at her. "I am so requesting a temporary retirement soon."
Faith laughed as she took on two vampires with ease. A few kicks, a few jabs, and she staked them quickly, not in the mood to mess around. She stepped back and watched as Buffy kicked the vampire facing her square in the jaw just as Carmen and Jessie ran over to help out. It was just a few seconds before ten vampires had them surrounded. Faith's heart was beating quickly, her whole body charged up with adrenaline and she couldn't wait to get through them all, one by one.
Ten against four Slayers, two of which had super-strength. To anyone else it wouldn't seem like an easy fight, but Faith knew it would be. She didn't even have to try. Neither did Buffy, but she could see that Buffy was actually having fun toying with the vampires that dared think they could take her. Jessie and Carmen held their own, which wasn't surprising to Faith in the least. She knew they were trained well and that they could defend themselves if they found themselves cornered. The last three weeks of training was showing and she tried not to look too impressed and proud of them as the two of them staked the last two vampires standing.
"See what happens when you two put your differences aside?" Faith asked, her tone mocking and full of sarcasm as she watched Jessie and Carmen shoot each other a look. "And damn, girls, if looks could kill you'd both be dead right about now."
"Whatever," Carmen nearly growled as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Just because she looked out for my back doesn't mean we're cool now."
"No, it doesn't," Faith replied as she moved to step in between them, feeling that they both were about to take a charge at one another. "But it's somethin' to work from. Fuckin' stupid to be fighting and hatin' on each other the way you two been. I'll tell ya that in the end, it's definitely not worth it."
"They need to figure that out for themselves," Buffy interjected as she reached for Faith's hand and pulled her away from the two of them. "Come on, we don't have time for this. We have to check the rest of the cemetery and move to the next. I really don't want to spend my Saturday night babysitting."
"Then don't. Leave," Carmen snapped. "I can check the other cemetery and Jessie can stay here. As long as she stays out of my way..."
"Sorry, 'fraid it doesn't work that way," Faith said firmly, the authority in her tone scaring her a little, but she didn't let it be shown. "Ya heard what Giles said—this sitch has to be dealt with and us leavin' you two alone isn't gonna deal with it."
"We can't force them to get along," Buffy whispered to her once Carmen and Jessie walked off.
"No we can't, but we can try to help 'em get there," Faith replied, smirking as she pulled Buffy in close to her. "I'm just tired of their fuckin' attitude problems, B. They're hot for each other and once they realize that..."
"God," Buffy laughed as she laced her fingers through Faith's hair and pulled her in as if she was going to kiss her, stopping short just a hairsbreadth away. "You might be right. Attraction can be fatal at times, especially when you don't want to feel the way you do."
"Somethin' ya know first hand, huh?"
"Maybe."
Faith laughed and planted a soft kiss on her lips, lingering for a moment before pulling away slowly. She always found Buffy to be more beautiful than ever under the soft light of a half moon in the middle of a cemetery. There was just something about the atmosphere that made something in her shine. She couldn't even imagine what it'd be like if they were two completely normal human beings. She knew if they were, they'd never be together, they would've never even met. Two different people from two very different walks of life. It really got her thinking too about all the what ifs and she hated when she started thinking that way. All she wanted was to live in the now, to live in each moment as it came and went.
"Wanna ditch 'em?" Faith asked softly as she closed her eyes, concentrating only on the feel of Buffy's fingers gently stroking the nape of her neck.
"First you don't want to and now you do?"
"Only got one thing on my mind now."
"You always have that on your mind," Buffy laughed as she shook her head. "If it were up to you, it's all we'd ever do."
"Technically it really is all we ever do."
"Technically."
"Let's just get patrol over with," Faith said after a moment, reluctantly forcing herself to drop her arms from around Buffy and step back. "If it ain't too late by the time we finish, we're goin' out like we planned to. I need to just fuckin' dance and lose myself in the music for a couple hours."
Buffy nodded in agreement as they started walking down the path, trying to catch up with Carmen and Jessie who were now in the middle of a rather heated argument. Just what they were arguing about, Faith didn't know nor did she care as she pulled Jessie away from Carmen before she could throw a punch her way. It was going to be one hell of a long patrol. With the way things were going, Faith knew that by the time patrol did finish it'd be too late to hit up a club and dance for a couple of hours. That alone was making her angry and she could only hold it back so much before she'd retaliate and let the two of them know that it was time to grow the fuck up and get over their differences, whatever their differences were.
She calmed down only when she looked over at Buffy and found herself feeling at ease with the smile Buffy flashed at her. Over and over in her head, she thought of one thing: How happy she was that Buffy had come back and that they were getting back to the way things had been before. And the scariest thought ran through her mind as the four of them began walking through the cemetery together in silence. She thought of how she'd love nothing more than to marry Buffy, to make their relationship solid and real, even more so than it already was.
It scared her because she'd never imagined having thoughts of marriage before, not even with Buffy, and now it was all that she wanted. She wasn't sure if it was what Buffy wanted either, but she had a feeling she might just feel the same way. If not now, eventually.
Faith was still awake when the sun rose the next morning. Buffy had gone to sleep as soon as they'd gotten back from patrol, her body still not adjusted from the jet lag she was suffering from. It gave Faith too much time alone to think and she knew how dangerous that could be if she let herself be alone for too long. As soon as she heard sounds in Kennedy's apartment, she was over there knocking on the door.
"Morning," Kennedy muttered groggily as she opened the door and let Faith inside. "Before you say anything, let me ask you what the hell you are doing awake so goddamn early?"
"Haven't slept."
"Makes sense," she replied with a short laugh. "Coffee?"
"Already had a pot, could use some more."
"Satsu is still sleeping," Kennedy said as they made their way to the kitchen. "Had a long night."
"Fuckin' all night will do that to ya," Faith chuckled as she leaned against the counter and watched as Kennedy sleepily made her way to the coffeepot that was nearly finished brewing. "Things are going pretty good between you two, huh?"
"Better than it ever was with Will. Don't get me wrong," she said as she poured them each a cup of coffee, "Will was great, but I fell in love with her way too fast. We weren't right for each other. I didn't even realize that until Satsu came here."
"I got somethin' I need to talk to ya about," Faith said as she took her mug off the counter and followed Kennedy out onto the balcony.
"What's up?"
"It's kinda huge."
"How huge?"
"Marriage huge."
Kennedy's jaw dropped open and her eyes went wide as she sat down on the plastic chair slowly. "Marriage? You want to ask Buffy to marry you?"
"Yeah. Crazy, ain't it?"
"A little, yeah."
"I dunno where this whole idea came from, all I know is I want this with her."
"And this has nothing to do with the fact that she just left for three weeks?"
Faith shrugged as she took a tentative sip of her hot coffee. "Maybe. I dunno, Ken. I'm in love with her, I'm happier than I've ever been in my life and I just...I want everything I never thought I'd want before and I want it with her."
"And let me guess," Kennedy smirked as she leaned back in the chair and stared up at Faith. "You are gonna ask me to be your best man, huh?"
"Of course. Who else would I ask?"
"Xander?"
"He and I aren't close like we are and you being my best man is a no brainer," Faith replied and she shuddered as she realized how real her thoughts of marrying Buffy were becoming. "I don't even know if she'll say yes."
"Of course she will. She'd be crazy not to! She loves you, Faith. It might be pretty quick between you two but you got all this loaded history with each other."
"Right," she sighed as she lowered her eyes to her mug. "It is too quick, ain't it? I should wait a few months, shouldn't I?"
"Asking the wrong girl, Faith. I've never been close to ever feeling that way with anyone I've been with. All I know is," Kennedy said, pausing as she took a deep breath and stifled a yawn, "if it feels right, then do it. Ask her. The worst that could happen is her saying no and you and I both know she won't say no."
"This is kinda crazy," Faith said softly, laughing as she looked out at the cloudless sky. "Three months ago we weren't even together and now I want to ask her to marry me, spend the rest of our lives together. But it does feel right, Ken. That's the crazy part. It feels so goddamn right."
"What's going on?" Satsu asked as she walked out onto the balcony with a cup of coffee and sat down in the chair next to Kennedy. "What the hell are you doing here so early, Faith?"
"She's going to ask Buffy to marry her," Kennedy said excitedly. "Isn't that great?"
"Wow, so soon?"
"Yeah," Faith nodded. "I really am crazy and it really is too soon, ain't it?"
"No," Kennedy said before Satsu could put in her two-cents. "I told you, if it feels right, do it. Ask her. And as your future best man, I plan to throw you one hell of a bachelorette party!"
"Are you going to buy her a ring?" Satsu asked. "Or have you already bought her one?"
"Was thinkin' of taking the non-traditional route, do somethin' different, but Buffy is this girly chick so maybe a ring might be the right way to go. Somethin' simple, ya know?" Faith said. She shrugged, trying to push down the nerves she didn't think she'd ever have. "Shit, I can't believe this. This whole thing just kinda hit me outta nowhere and it's all I been thinkin' about since last night."
Satsu laughed as she shook her head. "You've got it bad for Buffy. I think it's sweet, though. Kenny, you think we'll ever have what they have?"
"We'll have something close to what they have," she smiled and they shared a light kiss. "But nobody can touch what Buffy and Faith have. It's deeper than true love. They are each other's halves and it only took them what, five years to figure that out?"
"Somethin' like that," Faith laughed. "I'd appreciate it if you two kept this on the down-low for a couple days. Gonna figure out how and when to ask her. Wanna do it right."
"Nobody will hear about this," Kennedy promised and she stood up and hugged Faith tight. "Just tell me everything once it happens. I want to know every last detail...unless you two end up fucking afterwards. Don't really want too many details on that."
Faith felt like she was stuck in some kind of a dream as Kennedy and Satsu started talking about her and Buffy getting married, about how they could keep it fairly low-key and just have those be there that are closest to them. Faith could barely get a word in between the two of them and by the time all was said and done, the younger lovebirds practically had it all planned out for them. It was scary, just a little, but she was also excited. She almost couldn't wait to find a ring for Buffy and ask her to marry her. It was just Buffy's reaction she was worried about. She knew that Buffy was in love with her, but what she didn't know was if Buffy loved her enough to want to marry her one day. One day being soon since the life of a Slayer was never really long at all.
She went back to her apartment after she had a second cup of coffee with Kennedy and Satsu. Buffy was awake and in the kitchen with Dawn when she walked through the door. She ignored Dawn and walked right up to Buffy and wrapped her arms around her, smiling like a fool as she leaned in for a kiss. Buffy laughed softly before their lips met and she kissed her long and deep, not caring that Dawn was sitting right there and trying not to watch them.
"Morning," Buffy whispered once the kiss ended between them. "I was wondering where you went off to."
"Was over talking to Ken and Satsu."
"I figured," she smiled as she made no move to unwrap herself from Faith's tight embrace. "Are you hungry?"
"When am I not?"
Buffy laughed as she leaned in for another kiss, keeping it short and sweet before she pulled away. Faith just watched as Buffy pulled out the pancake mix and busied herself trying to get breakfast started. With the frame of mind she was in this morning, just watching Buffy made her whole body tingle in anticipation of a lifetime of chill mornings together. She couldn't even wipe the goofy grin off her face as she watched Buffy. She still ignored Dawn and that look she was giving both of them, a look that was borderline annoyed yet happy for them at the same time. Happy that they'd found the happiness one could only wish for between the two of them.
Faith wondered if it was the lack of sleep that was making her act this way, more so than what she was becoming used to. Talking to Kennedy and Satsu about wanting to marry Buffy had made it completely real—scary, too, but very real—and now it was all she could think about. She wished that Dawn wasn't there so she could tell Buffy to forget about breakfast and whisk her away into the bedroom. The urge to have a cigarette made her whole body shake and she slipped out to the balcony without a word and quickly lit the last cigarette in the pack.
She wondered what Angel would think about where her and Buffy's relationship was headed. She knew how he felt before, but Angelus was influencing him so she wasn't sure what he really did think about the two of them being together. She tried not to think about Angel, though—as hard as it was—because thinking of him brought back those fresh memories of what she had to do. It shot through her heart like an arrow or a stake and it was pain she'd rather not deal with. She had a lot of other things on her mind and she didn't need thoughts of Angel derailing her and pulling her into a depressive, closed off mood.
"Did you want to be alone?" Dawn asked as she opened the door.
"Nah, just came out for a smoke," Faith replied as she leaned against the railing and took another drag of her cigarette. "What's up, Dawnie?"
"You okay?"
"Course I am, why wouldn't I be?"
"You're acting weird, Faith."
"Am I?"
"Yeah," Dawn laughed as she sat down in the chair closest to the door. "You and Buffy are doing okay, right?"
"Sure."
"I thought that her being gone for three weeks might have changed things between you two."
"Nah," Faith shrugged. "I mean I missed her and all, but you know, she had to do what she had to do. Who was I to stop her?"
"She wouldn't shut up about you the whole time we were there," Dawn laughed as she shook her head. "I think I know you more than you think I do because of Buffy."
"So my badass rep is destroyed, huh?" Faith asked, winking as Dawn just laughed again.
"Destroyed completely, but don't worry, the secrets are all safe with me."
"Secrets?"
"Oh, you know, just little things like how sweet you really are with Buffy. She kept saying how she didn't understand why it took you two so long to have what you have now," Dawn said, pausing thoughtfully before continuing. "Things like that take time. You two had things to work out on your own before you could be together. You know something, Faith?"
"What?"
"I really thought you two would've hooked up that first night after we left Sunnydale. But with Robin dying and everything, it just wasn't meant to happen right then."
Faith nodded and took another long drag of her cigarette. She hadn't talked or even thought about Robin in quite some time and despite never having deep feelings for him, just thinking about him now kind of tore her apart inside. He'd given her hope and in a way he'd broken down her walls, allowing Buffy in once Buffy was ready to try. She knew Buffy enough to know that she wasn't one to emotionally connect with just anyone. She wasn't either and it made her laugh just a little to realize in another way just how similar they really were.
"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer or anything," Dawn said after a moment, and Faith just shrugged and waited for her to continue. Dawn looked back inside to make sure Buffy wasn't near to hear before she leaned towards Faith. "Are you two going to, you know, ever get married or anything?"
"Maybe," Faith said, hiding her surprise. "Been thinkin' of asking her."
"Seriously?" Dawn asked, her voice squealing from being so excited. "Are you serious, Faith?"
"Yeah."
"And you aren't freaking out about it?"
"No," she replied, and shrugged again. "Maybe a little. God, I can't believe I'm talking to you about this."
"I can't believe it either. Keep thinking you've done a body swap with another Faith or something," Dawn chuckled as Faith crushed her cigarette out in the ashtray and sat down on the chair next to her. "You haven't even mentioned anything about this to Buffy, have you?"
"No. Ken and Satsu know, though."
"They do?"
"Yeah," Faith said as she let out a sigh. "Kinda dangerous for me to be awake all night and thinkin' about this kinda shit."
"This is just...wow..." Dawn said softly as she shook her head in slight amazement. "Almost completely unexpected."
"I know."
They both laughed and Faith relaxed as best as she could when she heard Buffy coming towards the door. It didn't surprise her at all to find that Willow was right there with her. Willow always seemed to be right there. it made her feel a little paranoid that maybe she'd been listening in earlier when she'd been at Kennedy's without her even knowing it. If Willow did know anything, she didn't show it and Faith let those paranoid thoughts drop as she grabbed on to Buffy and pulled her down onto her lap. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a rather dreamy look in Dawn's eyes before she got up and talked Willow into coming with her, giving the two of them some much appreciated time alone.
"What were you two talking about?" Buffy asked softly as she ran her fingers lightly over Faith's jaw before tucking her hair behind her ears.
"Nothin' interesting, B."
"You are such a bad liar."
"I know," Faith smirked. "It's nothin', B. Really."
Buffy could only glare at her and she knew Buffy didn't believe her. She was a bad liar; at least she was now when it came to Buffy. After all the time they'd spent together it was almost as if Buffy could sniff out those lies or the lack of truth right away. It wasn't that she wanted to lie to her; she just needed a bit of time to figure out a way to ask Buffy to marry her without dropping any kind of hints along the way. It was crazy to her too because before Willow had died, marriage had been the very last thought on her mind. At the time she'd thought she was so far away from feeling that way. Everything had turned itself around on her in an instant.
She almost started to panic with the thoughts running rampant through her mind, but she calmed herself down and breathed in and out slowly, focusing only on getting completely lost in Buffy's eyes. It seemed to work until Buffy slapped her across the arm and raised an eyebrow at her.
"What the hell, B?"
"Did you hear a word I just said?"
"You were talking?"
"I asked you if you wanted to go out today."
"And do what?"
"I don't know, just go out. We never just go out."
"You're gonna say the 'S' word, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
"There's only one 'S' word I wanna hear right now," Faith chuckled as she wiggled her eyebrows and leaned in for a kiss only to be denied. "What? What'd I say?"
"Always about sex, Faith."
"Always," she smirked, then flinched when Buffy moved her hand as if she was going to slap her arm again. "Oh come on, like you don't think about it all the time too, B."
"Are you going to go on some speech about how it's been three weeks and that we've got a lot of making up to do?"
"Damn right we got a lot of making up to do. Got a lot of fuckin' to do too."
Buffy rolled her eyes, but Faith caught her trying to hide the smirk that slipped out. Despite the heat that was rapidly becoming nearly unbearable, Faith held Buffy close to her and rested her chin upon her shoulder. Buffy squirmed around a little on her lap until Faith let go of her and found herself being pulled to her feet instantly.
"What gives?"
"Go get into some clean clothes and meet me downstairs in ten minutes," Buffy said sternly, still trying to keep the smirk off her face. "And no, we aren't spending the day shopping. Maybe for some food for later but..."
"Food shopping I can do," Faith chuckled as she let Buffy push her inside and towards the bedroom. "Come on, B. Don't rush me."
"We're wasting the day away doing nothing."
"Ain't never heard ya complain about that before."
"Maybe things have changed," Buffy said pointedly as she pushed Faith the last little bit of the way into the bedroom. Faith grabbed on to her and pulled her into the bedroom with her, instantly backing her up against the wall. "Faith...not now."
Faith didn't say anything as she leaned in close, her lips barely brushing against Buffy's as she took in a deep breath. If Buffy really didn't want to she'd have pushed her away, yet she succumbed to her advances just as she always did. Buffy was powerless when it came to Faith, and Faith knew she couldn't make a habit out of taking advantage of Buffy's weakness, though sometimes it was damn close. She didn't want their relationship to turn into something like that.
"Sure ya don't wanna just stay here, B?"
"I'm sure."
"As sure as I am that I can convince ya otherwise?" Faith asked as she popped the button on her jean shorts and teasingly ran her fingers over Buffy's stomach, watching her suck in a deep breath as she waited for Faith's fingers to dip under the waistband of her panties.
She used her own legs to nudge Buffy's apart a little more as she slipped her hand inside her panties, teasing her as she refused to go lower. Buffy gripped onto her arm tightly as she slid her eyes shut. Faith knew that maybe she really was using Buffy's weakness to her own advantage, but from the way things were going and from how wet she felt Buffy was for her as she dipped her fingers lower, teasing her clit for a half a second, she knew Buffy wanted it as much as she did.
"Maybe..." Buffy breathed out as Faith teased her hole as she stared intensely at Buffy, wishing she'd open her eyes. "Maybe we can put off going out until later."
"Damn right we can put it off 'til later."
"Faith, if we had it your way, we'd never leave the bedroom," Buffy laughed as she opened her eyes and looked at her. "And sometimes that's not an entirely bad thing either."
"Knew you'd see it my way, B."
"But..." Buffy trailed off as she reluctantly pulled Faith's hand out of her panties and intertwined their fingers together. "But I want to go out today, Faith."
"Fine, baby, we'll go out," she muttered under her breath as she took a step back, letting go of Buffy's hand and watching her as she buttoned up her shorts. "You still ain't gonna tell me where we're goin', are ya?"
"Nope."
Faith let out an almost whining groan that made her sound about five years old. It just made Buffy laugh as she slipped out of the bedroom, sending one last glare back at Faith that told her she meant what she'd said before. She groaned again and changed into clean clothes. She took her time getting ready and met Buffy downstairs twenty minutes later. She didn't need to ask, she knew what that look in Buffy's eyes was. There was a surprise and Buffy knew that she would absolutely love it. She did have her doubts—it was Buffy after all and there were just some things she wasn't sure how to take when it came to her.
Buffy didn't say a word to her as she took her hand and led her outside. They walked around to the parking lot, Buffy handing Faith a set of keys as they reached an Escalade that appeared to be Perry's. Or at least its twin. She raised an eyebrow but took the keys anyway and they got into the SUV.
"I borrowed it from Perry," Buffy said as soon as they had closed the doors. "He told me I couldn't drive it."
"Found out what a horrible driver you are, huh?"
"That and I don't have a license."
"And I do?"
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh. What'd you think, B? That somehow I managed to get my license while I was in prison?"
"I just thought...never mind."
"B, I do have a license," Faith chuckled softly. "I just have to renew it. Might be able to get away with not getting pulled over today, though, depending on where you're planning to go. And since I'm driving, you do kinda need to tell me that."
"Can't I just tell you when to turn?"
Faith laughed again before starting the vehicle and driving out of the parking lot. She turned whenever Buffy told her to turn until they found they were lost in a part of the city where neither of them had ever been before. Faith, being as stubborn as she was, refused to ask for directions and after a very frustrating hour of driving in circles, she found her way back to the roads she knew better than the back of her hand. She needed a cigarette but reached for Buffy's hand instead, ignoring the craving that made her skin feel as if it were crawling and gnawing at her.
It was over three hours before Faith pulled into a small dirt parking lot by the lake. It was completely deserted despite it being the middle of summer. They got out and Faith walked down the sand towards the water and looked out at the boats that lined the horizon. Buffy joined her a few minutes later with a blanket and a picnic basket.
"So this was what you planned for today, B? A picnic?"
"Yeah," Buffy smiled over at her as she spread the blanket over the sand and sat down. "Its okay, isn't it?"
"Fuck yeah it is," Faith said as she joined her on the blanket and kicked off her shoes. The trees near them provided just enough shade to make the hot day bearable. "Shoulda just told me ya planned a picnic, B."
"I wanted it to be a surprise."
Faith smiled at her and was mentally kicking herself for not making this day just that much better by having a ring and a speech prepared to ask Buffy to marry her. It seemed like a perfect place and time to do just that. She leaned over for a lingering kiss before she grabbed the picnic basket to check out the food Buffy had brought along. Buffy swatted her hands away from the food and pulled her in for another kiss. It was definitely a great surprise. She knew she couldn't be happier than she was right then.
