*****

Vacation. I've never really taken one, y'know. Sure, there's summer vacation coming every fucking year after school but that's not really a 'vacation' vacation. I've never packed up and gone anywhere to relax or unwind or whatever people do on their vacations. The only time I've packed up is to go from one foster home to another and that sure wasn't for relaxation. More like a forced migration like how those Indians were forced from their land again and again by the White man. And my teachers thought I never learned anything.

But despite that piss-poor history, here I am. On vacation. With Buffy.

The day we boarded the bus to come here, mom and Red and Xander had been there to see us off and if you didn't know any better, you'd think we weren't ever gonna come back. I guess I got a little watery eyed too but that was the worse I got. When we got to LA, some of Buffy's enthusiasm got dampened when her dad told her he'd be busy most of the time we were going to be here cause there was a lot of work he still hadn't caught up with. Buffy was totally devastated at first. You could see it on her face. I couldn't really care less if Hank was busy or not. It's not like I even knew the guy but I cared that Buffy was bummed.

I think she had this idea that all three of us could bond or something. I know she missed her dad. Her face lights up every time she talked to him on the phone. And now she finds out that all the plans she'd made have to be tossed out. Yeah, I'd feel like shit too. But she tries to hide it behind a smile that never actually reaches her eyes. Not the best way to start a vacation but it's been two weeks now and I think we're making the best of it. Buffy dragged me everywhere to do the sightseeing thing cause even though she's lived here most of her life, she's never been to all the tourist traps around this place. And I put up with being dragged around cause it made her happy and you're never going to see me pass up a chance of making her happy.

Especially now. I didn't even notice it at first but after the whole shebang with the Master where Buffy almost died, her behavior started changing. Real small change stuff at first like she started sleeping mostly in her bed which I didn't start noticing until I started missing her. I miss having her next to me when I go to sleep, when I wake up...I think I even miss her when I'm sleeping. It's crazy but I think, with Buffy around, the nightmares that I've had for as long as I can remember, aren't as bad. But I don't want to push her either. What would I say? That I need her to sleep in my bed again cause I don't want to have bad dreams anymore? I'm sure there's a reason why she doesn't. I just don't know what it is.

I glance up at her as she's digging into her salad which was the only thing she'd ordered for lunch. I'm sure I can convince her to get a dessert later but I don't know what's with this diet kick she's suddenly on. The girl's skinny enough already if you ask me. She looked up suddenly, catching my stare and smiled before quickly returning her attention to the lettuce. I took another bite out of the burger and looked around. We were sitting at an outdoor cafe after walking around half the day. I don't think I've ever walked around so much in my life for no specific purpose before. Being a tourist was harder than I thought it would. Just when I thought we'd been everywhere and gone to see everything around LA, Buffy would find something else she *had* to see.

It was kinda strange though. Two weeks we've been here and I would've thought she'd visit some of her friends but she hasn't even mentioned them. Not that I was disappointed. But, like I said, it still seemed strange.

"Faith?" I looked up and found her eyes on me. "Let's do something different tonight."

"Like what?" There was almost a sparkle in her eyes as she leaned forward.

"I thought maybe we could go out to a club," she said, her lips quirking into a grin. "Have some fun?"

I shrugged. "Sure, I could use a break from all this...touring." She grinned at me again and went back to her salad.

After a small dinner that night, Buffy went into her room and came out twenty minutes later in a killer outfit which I know I've never seen before cause if I did, I wouldn't have forgotten it. Damn, she was looking hot. Leather pants, black tube top, dark make up...shit, she's stealing my style and looking fine doing it.

"You like it?" She asked, leaning against the stair post and smirking up at me.

"You think I look at just anyone like this?" I asked with a wink. "Course I like it, B." She smiled full out at me and took my arm, pulling me out the door. I didn't know where we were going. Buffy was more familiar with LA than I was so I just let her drive us around until she parked the car after awhile. We walked about a block more until we got to this doorway guarded by some tall, skinny bouncer. I could hear the beats of the music coming in waves out the door and I felt my body starting to bounce along with it.

"ID?" The guy asked in a bored voice, holding out a hand. I was just about to try and bullshit him into letting us in when Buffy rooted through her back pocket and came out with two pieces of ID. I tried not to look too surprised. But how and when did she get those? The bouncer who I noticed had this greasy ponytail tied off with a orange rubber band handed them back after a quick glance and stepped aside to let us in. I couldn't really ask her where she'd gotten the ID's cause as soon as we stepped through the door, you couldn't hear shit except for the hard pounding music coming out of the speakers.

Buffy didn't even take the time to look around. She just grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor, elbowing her way through the crowd to get some room for the two of us. I guess questions could wait for now --- they'd have to. She slid her body close to mine, a wicked pouty expression lighting her face as she started grinding her hips in time with the music. I sucked in a quick breath, watching her and feeling her and I wondered where the hell this new Buffy had come from. But who the hell cared? I was definitely enjoying this. Halfway through the song, she turned around and backed into me, pressing against my chest. My breath started coming in tight like I'd just run the mile as she pulled my arms around her waist and kept on moving to the beat.

I smelled her shampoo, all fruity and clean with a hint of smoke clinging to it from the haze hanging in the air and I felt myself pulling her closer, burying my nose into her hair so her scent would surround me. Thinking about why I was doing what I was doing was about the last thing on my mind cause I was too damn busy just doing it. We danced through the next song and the next and the next until she finally dragged me off to the bar. Before I knew it, she'd shoved a drink into my hand and tossed back one of her own. I took a sip of mine just to see what she'd ordered. It was fucking strong, no ice, just alcohol and as I watched her looking at me with that 'I dare ya' look, I tossed it back, not even grimacing...not too much anyway. And even as I reached across some guy's shoulder to put the glass down on the counter, another drink was being pushed into my hand.

A couple more drinks and much more dancing later, we stumble out of the door which turned out a lot harder to get into than out of for some reason. I don't really know how or when we actually made it home only that I recognized Buffy's doorstep suddenly rushing up to meet my face.

"Faith...wha are ya doin' don there?"

It wasn't funny or anything but I started giggling. "You're drunk!" So this was what she was like when she got plastered. It was kinda cute how she kept slurring her words.

"S'not fun-hic-funny." I felt her hands pulling me up and I started giggling some more as she propped me against the door which we still hadn't been able to get through yet. "The key don work," she says with a pout holding out the key in question. I took it from her and stuck it in the hole on the first try. As she walked past me, I tried not looking too smug about it.

"Come 'ere," she says, grabbing my arm and pulling me through the door. I lost whatever balance I still had and stumbled into her, knocking both of us onto the floor. I started giggling again as I put my weight on my elbows so I wouldn't continue crushing her with my body and looked down into her smiling face. I wish I could say that one thing led to another but I didn't even see the 'thing' until I --- *we* were kissing. Not little pecks on the cheek that barely make contact, not brief brushing of lips against skin, no. This was full on, lips crushing lips, tongues brushing tongues deep, thorough kissing. It felt so good with her pressed up against me. So much like when we were dancing, only better.

It felt so good...that I had to break away cause this was Buffy frigging Summers, my stepsister, my best friend, and the most important girl in my life. And so we laid there, sobering up real fast and staring at each other like we were strangers. Shit, but I could still see the desire in her eyes. Shit, she could probably see the same thing in mine. She nudged me off and sat up. After a few moments of silence where we tried to do everything but actually look at each other, she got to her feet, muttered a good night and hurried upstairs. I just sat there until I heard her bedroom door slamming, wondering what the fuck had happened.

At least her dad was off on some five day business thing and didn't trip over me as I sat there. At least he didn't trip over us while we were making out on the floor.

Nah, that didn't make me feel better. I finally got up, still having made no sense of what had gone down and walked upstairs. I almost knocked on her door as I past by before I realized that I had no idea what to say to her. When I got into my own room, I flopped down onto the bed and as much as I wanted to figure out everything in my mind, straighten it out, the booze started kicking in again and a heavy fog started creeping in my head.

When I woke up sometime the next day, I felt like total shit warmed over and I wondered, like all the other times I'd woken up like this, why I drank so damn much to begin with. After I pried myself out of bed and took a shower, I wandered downstairs and stepped into the kitchen only to find Buffy there already. She looked up with a cup of coffee in her hands and a 'deer in the headlights' look on her face. We stood there, looking at each other until I found my legs involuntarily walking towards her.

"Hey," she says, her face lifting up slightly to look at me before dipping back down to stare at her coffee again.

"Hey," I said, reaching around her to get a mug when she quickly moved away like something had bitten her. If there was any part of me that thought everything would be all right in the morning, this pretty much dashed that idea against a pile of sharp rocks. She tried to act like nothing had happened, that she hadn't just reacted from the gut and moved away because I was getting too close. I continued to pour myself a cup of coffee as I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, wondering what she could be thinking about. Was she disgusted, scared, uncomfortable and dying to tell me but not sure how, to get the hell out of her house? Of her life? I took a sip and winced at the bitter, strong taste of the black coffee.

"Faith?" I looked up and saw her watching me with an unreadable expression. She gestured towards the living room and I followed her even though everything inside me was telling me to run away as fast as I could. I sat down as far away from her as I could even though we were sitting on the same sofa and wondered if I should say something or if I should wait for her. "I guess we got pretty wasted last night." I guess that solved that.

"Yeah." It was hard moving my mouth around to say even that one word. Harder still trying to move my eyes away from the coffee I was holding in my hands to look up at her. I heard her sigh out loud and then move towards me until we were sitting side to side.

"Faith," She said again after another minute. "Why won't you look at me?"

I tore my eyes away from the fascination that was the coffee and turned around to look at her.

"I...I don't really remember exactly what happened last night," she started to say, her eyes drifting down into her lap.

"We kissed," I helpfully supplied. For some reason, it came out harsher than I meant it to. I noticed that her shoulders tensed immediately and I wanted to reach over and comfort her but my hands stayed where they were.

After a long moment, she finally looked up at me again. "It was the alcohol," she stated coolly. "Let's just pretend like it never happened, all right?" Without even waiting for me to say anything, she got up and went upstairs. I had this overwhelmingly bad feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same between us again.

****

Faith burst into my room fifteen minutes and twenty three seconds after I left. I know because I was staring at the clock the whole time. After she burst in, she just stood there uncertainly as if she couldn't think of what to do next now that the dramatic entrance was done with.

"No," she finally said, looking at me. "No," she said again with more emphasis. "We're not going to 'pretend like it never happened' cause that's just fucking dumb."

I sat on the bed and stared at her until she started shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Do you have a better idea?" I asked, letting her off the hook for now. She came further into the room and sat down next to me, close enough for me to feel the heat coming off of her. I wanted nothing more than to forget about last night but Faith was right. We couldn't forget it and if we kept trying to push it away like nothing had happened, that would just serve to drive a wedge between us which was the last thing I wanted to happen. God, what had gotten into us last night? Yeah, the alcohol probably had something to do with it but...was that it?

"Did you like it?"

"What?" I looked over at her and saw that she was staring intently at me.

"Did you like the kiss?" She asked, clarifying the question.

"I..." Why did she have to ask that? She knew the answer already. "That doesn't matter, Faith. We were drunk, we didn't know what we were doing and things just happened but I really don't want that to affect our friendship."

"See but there's where I lose ya, B." She grinned suddenly, shifting on the bed so her body was facing me. "I don't see how that's not gonna affect us cause, tell you the truth, I liked it." She looked as surprised by that as I was. "I liked it a lot," she repeated, her brows starting to furrow as she thought about that some more. Her eyes turned to mine again and I knew she was expecting me to say something but my mouth wouldn't cooperate. Nothing came out even though I wanted to tell her that it was the same with me. Her hand moved from her side towards the side of my face, hesitating before it cupped my cheek. "I liked it, B," she whispered.

If I were going to say something, this would have been the perfect time to do so but instead, my hand came up to cover hers and I felt myself leaning forward, my eyes flicking between her eyes and her lips. If I did this...if we did this, we wouldn't be able to blame it on the alcohol or anything else for that matter because we were just us. Faith and Buffy, stone cold sober and about to kiss. Her head dipped down and her eyes lidded halfway closed as our lips met again, tasting each other, remembering the sensations. As we deepened the kiss, I felt her hand slip out from under mine and wound around the back of my neck, pulling us even closer together.

She pulled away first, a look of wonderment suffusing her face. "Shit, B," she managed to say with the beginnings of a grin. "That was fucking great."

I felt the smile spreading across my own face. Everything started making sense now --- from the reason why I was so jealous of Cordelia in the beginning to why my heart did a little flip every time I saw Faith. I loved Faith. I'd known that for a long time already but I never consciously thought about *loving* her. I only wondered now how I could have been so dense about it before.

"You don't see me complaining," I said with a smirk. Looking at her as she continued grinning at me, I had the sudden positively overwhelming urge to kiss her again and I didn't even try to suppress it. You could say, I went with the flow as I moved towards her again and captured those softly sweet lips, tasting them once again. It was a sensation that I don't think I would ever tire of. Her arms wound around my waist, pulling me onto her lap and her hands began roaming across my stomach and back.

I heard as well as felt her groaning as she firmly but gently pushed me away a few minutes later. My eyes opened slowly, wondering what the problem was. "We need to talk," she said, wincing at the use of the words. I almost laughed at her distasteful expression because usually, I would be the one saying them but I settled for a raised eyebrow. She blew out a soft breath as if to settle herself before speaking. "I love you, B...I mean, I *really* love you."

I smiled softly at her. "I really love you too."

She beamed at me and I felt as if my insides were turning to goo. "For me, this is for real, y'know?" She asked with a suddenly serious expression. "This is the first time it's been for real. Cause no one's even come close to being as important to me as you are, B." She shook her head. "Fuck. Not even close and I'd kill myself before I messed that up."

I stopped her, placing a finger against her lips which were just begging for me to kiss again. But, this time, I restrained myself. "What makes you think you'll mess anything up, Faith? I don't know where you got this idea that you're a screw up. Could a screw up save my life? Our friends' lives? Could a screw up make me feel like the happiest person in the world? Because you did all those things and more so you can't be a screw up. I just wish you could see yourself through my eyes," I said, holding her face in my hands. "If you don't trust yourself, trust me. Would I let you mess anything up?"

She slowly shook her head with uncertainty still in her eyes. It didn't matter that she didn't totally believe me now because I would convince her. Recapturing her lips and pouring all of my love into that kiss, I had no doubt about that. I wound up trailing soft kisses across her jaw and down her neck, causing her to make a noise that sounded very much like a purr.

"You do that real well, B," she said, pulling me up so she could gaze into my eyes. She shook her head again, this time in disbelief. "I can't believe I'm actually kissing you." She ran a hand through my hair, her eyes sparkling.

"Have you...ever thought about it before?" I averted my eyes as I felt the hot blush starting to creep up my neck. I don't know why I was embarrassed asking this question. I'd just spent some serious minutes kissing this girl senseless and now I'm embarrassed about asking a question?

"You mean kissing you?" I looked up and saw that she had a playful smirk on her face. I squirmed, threatening to get off her lap and she immediately pulled me tighter and chuckled lightly.

"I'm just joking with ya, B," she said with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," she added, giving me a puppy dog look that not only cracked me up with its utterly schmoozy sincerity but made me melt as well.

"So, answer the question," I repeated, trying to get her back on track.

"I thought about it, yeah," she said, giving me a quick peck on the chin. "But every time I thought about it, I felt like it was wrong or something so I always tried to think of something else. Thing was though, I kept thinking about it. Tried not to but..." She shrugged one shoulder. "Didn't work."

"Is that your idea of sweet talking a girl?" I asked with a smirk.

"Depends. Is it working?" She answered with her own question, wriggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"In a bizarre kind of way, I think it is." That was enough for her to smile that cocky, smug expression she had that would infuriate anyone else but I just grinned right back at her before resting my forehead against hers. I hadn't felt this happy or...safe in a long time. I'd been in love with her for so long but to actually acknowledge it to her and to myself was like a heavy load had been taken off my shoulders. I knew there were going to be problems. What else was new? My mom, the Scooby Gang, Giles, the fact that we're both girls were all problems that we'd have to deal with. But for now, all that mattered was that we were together and that it felt so right.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," Faith wistfully muttered, pulling me into a hug that seemed to do just that, last forever.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the house. And unlike what everyone else might think when they hear me say that, we didn't just jump in the sack and go at it like bunnies. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to. Strangely enough, it didn't even come up. I think we both wanted to take this slow because that's basically what we've done since the beginning. After all, it took us a year to even get to the point of kissing. And anyway, I just love Faith way too much to rush into anything.

I watched as she hung up the phone and walked back to the sofa. "Pizza's gonna be here in thirty minutes," she said, sitting down so I could rest my head in her lap again.

"What would we ever do without takeout?" I asked, rhetorically.

"Probably eat cold cereal for dinner," she said in all seriousness with a faraway look in her eyes.

I sat up at the changed tone in her voice and hesitated only a second before wandering into an area of discussion which had been off limits between us before. "Tell me something about yourself before we met?" I asked, holding my breath.

She slowly blinked before looking over at me. "What'd you want to know?"

"Anything," I immediately answered. "I just want to know everything about you. I always have, Faith."

She grinned humorlessly. "Well, you're the first, B. There's not much to tell really. Usual sob story --- dad died when I was seven. Mom died a couple of months later. So I've been on my own for nine years. No relatives I know of, at least none that'll take me in and it's just as well cause I didn't want no pity party. And the rest...you know the rest. I stay with some foster crap family for three or six months max and I get kicked around to the next lucky family. That's about all there is to know about my life, B. Nothing ever went good until I met you."

I rested my head on her shoulder. I knew it was so much more than that but was I going to risk pushing it? I never had before because I didn't want to push her away. I didn't want to make an issue out of it but now, I wanted to know so she wouldn't have to feel like she was alone in this world, that she had to shoulder her past all by herself. "Faith," I began, hoping this was the right move to make. "I know about your nightmares." I felt her stiffen immediately but I kept on talking because I knew if I hesitated, that would be the end of it. "You keep dreaming about your father, don't you? Of how he died --"

"Fuck, B!" She shouted, abruptly standing up, facing away from me. "Can't you just leave it alone? Can't you just fucking accept the fact that I'm not going to feel like sharing every stupid little thing that happens in my life with you?"

"But this isn't a stupid little thing," I said softly, standing up as well. "If it were, you wouldn't keep dreaming about it almost every single night. I just want to help you, Faith."

She turned towards me, her face fixed in an expressionless mask that nevertheless threatened to crack at the slightest provocation. "There's a very simple way you can help me. Leave it alone." Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned on her heel and loped up the stairs, leaving me standing in the living room.

****

I heard her outside the door and I knew she was going to come in. It was just a matter of how long it took for her to get up the nerve. Why did she have to bring it up though? What was the point of rehashing old news when there was so much other stuff we could have done that would have been so much more enjoyable? I laid on my side with my back to the door so I didn't see her coming in, only hearing the doorknob turning. She didn't say anything and I tensed up waiting for her to start talking about it again.

But she didn't. I felt her laying down on the bed and then spooning me from behind. Her arm wrapped around my waist and took my hand in a comforting grasp. That only made me feel worse as I screwed my eyes shut, not wanting to see anything but darkness. My jaw was clenched so tight that I thought like I was prying open a steel trap when the first words burst out of my mouth like machine gun shots.

"He was a nice guy. Couldn't ask for a better dad actually. And I loved him. I loved the damn bastard." I took a shuddering breath and felt Buffy pulling me in tighter. I took another deep breath and continued because I couldn't stop now. Not after I'd started. "I was always daddy's little girl. He used to call me his little firecracker cause I was always getting into trouble." I thought back to all the times I'd almost gotten killed or maimed cause I wouldn't listen to anyone but the little devil on my shoulder and I had to laugh out loud at how incredibly dead I should be right now. "But if I were a firecracker, then he was the fucking A-bomb just begging for someone to drop him. The guy loved his gambling. He would bet on anything --- dogs, horses, football, baseball, anything you could think of betting on, he was there...and so was I cause he'd drag me with him. Hell of a lot more fun than staying home though. But he wasn't very good at what he did. The night he died..." I stopped, trying to choke down the lump in my throat. It still seemed like it'd just happened yesterday and the pain was still fresh, sharp and intense. "I was with him. I watched as they beat him to death." My stomach clenched and I thought I was going to throw up as I saw it happening again in my mind. His eyes. That's what always haunts me so much. They were begging for help but I couldn't give him any. I couldn't do anything.

"Faith, it's all right," Buffy whispered from behind me. But she was wrong. It wasn't all right. It never would be. That's when I noticed I was shaking from trying to hold in the tears. But I just couldn't do it anymore. I'd been holding it back for nine years and I just couldn't do it. So I cried. And when I was finally done, when it felt like every fucking drop had been wrung from my body, I didn't feel any better. Only exhausted and empty. Eventually, I fell asleep with Buffy still wrapped around me, still holding me, still loving me.

And when I woke up, I was the one holding her. Shit, how did I ever get this lucky? No matter what I tell her, no matter how bad it is, she's always there for me and for the life of me, I couldn't tell you why. I pulled back a little, propping my head up on one hand so I could look at her better. She's so beautiful and I grin a little just looking at her sleeping so peacefully.

But then, just like that, she starts whimpering and going spastic. So the first thing I do is reach over, trying to calm her down or something. That turned out real bad cause I got a smack in the face for my trouble.

"Son of a -- " I started to say, my hand covering my stinging nose.

"Faith?" I looked over and saw that Buffy was blinking up at me with a confused expression on her face. "What's going on?"

My eyes went wide as I tried my hardest not to scream 'you hit me' at the top of my lungs. Instead, I growled out "It seems like I'm not the only one that has bad dreams."

Her own eyes began to widen as her mouth opened slightly. "Wh-what?"

I pulled my hand away, making sure there wasn't any blood coming out of my nose before looking back at her. "You know what I'm talking about, B."

She looked as if she was going to try and deny it but then her shoulders slumped and her eyes dipped down to stare at the bed covers.

"If you don't want to talk about it," I began to say more gently only to have her cut me off.

"No, I do. I don't even know why I've been trying to hide it."

It wasn't that hard to put one and one together. "Was that why you stopped sleeping with me? Because you didn't want me to know?"

She nodded and then crawled over, resting her head against my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. I waited for her to talk, knowing firsthand how hard it is to get those first words out when all you want to do is curl up and forget about it. "I...I keep having nightmares about how I died," she finally said in a hush. "Everybody keeps telling us that Slayers don't live too long and I've accepted that. At least I thought I had but I'm just not dealing." She looked up at me and I had no idea what to say to her. It was a fact of the job and even though I hated it, there wasn't anything I could do about it.

"B, I would die to keep you safe." I meant every word cause there was no doubt in my mind that she was more important to me than my own life.

But she shook her head. "No, that's not...that's the last thing I want, for you to die. It's just that every time I close my eyes, I see *him* and every morning, I wake up, I see my own death playing over and over in my head...It scares me, Faith."

I winced at her admission cause I felt the same way. It scared the shit out of me when I came out of that tunnel and saw her lying facedown in a pool of water. It scared me every time I thought about how close it had been. A few minutes more and I wouldn't be holding her in my arms right now. A few minutes more and I wouldn't have her in my life...ever. I drew her closer, reminding myself that Buffy was very much alive and that this cold grip on my heart will go away if I keep her close. "I won't let anything happen to you," I whispered, knowing that I would do everything in my power to keep that promise.

She tilted her head up and gave me a weak grin. "I trust you, Faith," she said before giving me a soft kiss on the lips. "And the same goes for me. I won't let anything happen to you either."

"See," I said with a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin that was just this side of shaky. "We already have a leg up on every other Slayer in history. We've got each other as back up. Demons better watch themselves."

"I love you," she said all of a sudden, out of the fucking blue, making me feel all mushy inside. "You always make me feel better and I love you so much..." She kissed me again, deeper this time, probing, almost as if she was making sure that we were real, that this was for real. And I made certain to show her exactly how real I could be.

It seemed like every time I kissed her, I couldn't get enough. And every single time made me realize how incredibly lucky I'd gotten. It was almost like winning the lottery. How fucking lucky can one person get? I keep thinking this is a dream I'll wake up from but hell, as I remember it, my dreams never went this well.

But just when I was really getting into it, Buffy suddenly pulled away. "What is it?" I asked, wanting nothing more than to pull her back.

"The car!"

"What car?" What was she talking about?

"My dad's car! The one I drove to the club."

Oh that car. I don't know if I should've been disturbed that she's thinking about a car when we're lip locking or not but I watched, still sitting on the bed as she jumped up and took off through the door like a maniac. I figured it was about time I got dressed so I began changing and I was just putting on my socks when Buffy ran back into the room, looking not a little mental.

"It's not here!" She shouted. "The car's not here. My dad's going to kill me."

"B, it's not a big deal," I said, lacing up my boots. "It's probably still where you parked it last night. We'll just go back and pick it up."

"Yeah, you're right," she said, nodding a bit too enthusiastically. "It's got to be there...God, I hope it's there." She almost dragged me down the stairs before I could remind her that shoes could only help her appearance which earned me a sheepish grin and another sprint back to her room to get some sneakers.

We took car service back to the club and all during the ride, Buffy was literally on the edge of her seat. Meanwhile, I was sitting back, wondering how we *did* make it back home last night, seeing as neither one of us could have driven a shopping cart drunk on our asses like we were. Maybe we walked. Nah, that was kinda hard to imagine. But it was like one of those questions that keeps gnawing at the edges of your brain until you felt like you were going to go crazy if you didn't get an answer soon.

"Hey, B?" She turned towards me with a worried expression still on her face. "Do you remember how we got home last night?" She opened her mouth as if to answer but then she scrunched up her brows.

"I don't know," she finally said. "The last thing I remember before we got to the doorstep was thinking how great your butt looked in leather."

"That's kind of a given," I said, straight faced.

She smirked but seemed to relax from her tense as a board position. "But putting that aside for now...I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly, I can't remember how we got home."

"Shit, B. I can't believe this is turning out to be some kind of Unsolved Mystery."

"We can worry about that later. Right now, let's focus on the real issue here. If I lose my dad's car, my ass is grass and I'll be grounded for the rest of my life which means no more parties, no more fun, no more social life..." She lowered her voice and leaned into me slightly. "No more sexy dances with you."

"We can't have that," I said in the same tone of voice, licking my lips slightly to see her reaction which was almost immediate. Her eyes dilated and she got this innocent girl look on her face that was undercut with a little knowing grin.

What the fuck.

I jumped her right there. Screw the fact that we weren't alone. Cause ain't no way I'm sitting still when Buffy's got that gorgeous expression written across her face. And she tastes so sweet. I don't think I'll ever get enough of her. But when my hands start to wander under her shirt, she pulls away from me, making these embarrassed noises in the back of her throat.

I look over at the driver and saw that his eyes were glued to the rearview mirror. "Hey, dude. You wanna not get us all killed and keep your eyes on the damn road?"

Buffy takes my hand and gives me an apologetic grin. "Later," she promised.

I hope she knows I'm going to keep her to that.

****

"I remember this is exactly where we parked, Faith," I said irritably, going out of my mind that she even asked if I was sure this was where I'd left the car the night before. Of course I was sure. "This is where I parked and it's not here anymore." I looked at my watch and it was already around ten. All I could think about was all the various and sundry ways my dad would kill me when he came back home.

"Okay, then we'll have to report it missing. Let's go." Faith took me by the elbow and climbed back into the car, already telling the driver to get us to the nearest police station.

All I could do during the whole ten minute ride over was stare out the side window and wonder how I could explain this without seeming totally irresponsible. It couldn't be done, I finally realized. Whichever way I spun it, my dad would be disappointed and angry with me. I don't see him for five months and when I finally come and visit, this is how I choose to leave him? Good job, Buffy.

Faith paid off the driver and motioned for me to get out. "You all right, B?" She asked, looking at me with concern.

"Yeah," I said because 'No, I think I'm having a nervous breakdown' just didn't have that same assuring tone of sanity.

It didn't really take that long to file a report and have the officer tell us that there was a slim to none chance they'd find the car with each hour that passed. So when we walked out of the station, I felt even worse than when we'd walked in which I thought wasn't possible but that just shows how naive I was.

We waited outside for car service to come pick us back up and I was so out of it that I didn't even notice at first when Faith stepped behind me and wrapped her arms around my body in a secure embrace.

"What's this for?" I asked, turning my face slightly.

"Just hoping it'd make you feel better. Is it?" She asked, kissing me on the cheek.

I leaned back, letting the feeling of security and love seep through my skin. "Much better," I said, blowing out a soft breath of air and letting myself finally relax a little.

"Don't worry too much about it, B," she said after a moment. "I'm sure everybody's done something like this at least once in their life. We're teenagers, remember? We have a certain leeway when it comes to doing stupid things we regret."

"I think all of my leeway was used up when I burned down my school's gym."

After a moment, she said with her head resting on my shoulder, "He's probably forgotten all about that by now."

I turned around in her arms and looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "You're kidding, right?"

A grin slowly began to form on her face. "Sometimes, it's better to look for the bright side of things."

"I don't have to look for it. She's standing right in front of me." She looked surprised and then gave me the brightest smile, easily lighting up her face and mine. She looked so beautiful then. Like an angel...my angel. I bought my arms up, wrapping them around her neck and hugged her, surrounding myself in her warmth. I didn't ever think we were going to be so comfortable around each other again, especially after what had happened last night. I almost laughed out loud at the thought. Just look at us now. Hugging in the middle of the sidewalk and not a shred of awkwardness between us. Then again, you couldn't slip a piece of paper between us either.

We got home at around twelve after first stopping off to get something to eat. We never did get around to eating that pizza we ordered earlier. Faith had still been asleep when it'd been delivered and I hadn't wanted to wake her up. I walked over to the answering machine, futilely hoping the police had called with good news while we were still out. No such luck. Flopping down onto my side on the couch, I let my legs hang over one armrest and stared off into space, trying not to think about anything at all. I heard Faith going up the stairs and suppressed the small hint of resentment that she hadn't come in here to be with me instead. But that wasn't really fair. She'd listened to me whine and bitch for the last few hours and she'd been there the whole time. If she wanted some time alone now, I couldn't really blame her.

My eyes had slid shut by the time I heard footsteps coming back down the stairs. A small grin lifted up the corners of my mouth when Faith walked back into the room and squeezed onto the couch behind me. Her body was exuding a palpable heat and I could smell the fresh, clean scent coming off her skin, probably from the shower she'd just taken.

"You miss me?" She asked, her breath blowing warm against my ear.

I chuckled, taking her hand and wrapping her arm around my waist. We laid there in perfect silence, just enjoying each other's presence. I thought back over the eventful day we'd just spent together. It seemed like everything that could have happened, had. But we had gotten through it and I couldn't have been happier...discounting the car thing of course. Faith pressed closer into my back and nuzzled the crook of my neck, making me forget all about the car.

"I never thought I'd feel like this about anybody," she said suddenly with a breathless sigh. "For the first time in my life, I'm happy and it's all because of you." She paused for a moment and then continued. "I just wanted you to know that, B. I want you to know how much you've already shaped my life. Everything good in me is because of you."

I would have said something but I was too surprised. Where had this admission come from? After a long moment of silence where I tried getting a handle on the emotions running rampant through my mind, Faith started tensing behind me and I knew she was starting to feel insecure that I hadn't said anything yet. "I can't believe how much I love you right now," I choked out, feeling a wetness forming in my eyes. The tension immediately left her body as she molded herself against my back.

I don't know exactly how long we stayed like that in our own little world but the next thing I groggily remember was being held securely in Faith's arms as she carried me upstairs. I grinned now, remembering just how warm and safe I had felt in those arms but as I stretched out on my bed, feeling out with one hand, I came up with nothing but cool blankets that softly whispered under my palm. "Faith?" I rasped out through a sleep addled voice. After getting no response, I opened my eyes, squinting at the light pouring into the room from the window. I rolled my head to the side and confirmed what my other senses had already told me. I was lying alone in bed and the clock by the bedside table showed that it was already eleven. "Faith?" I called out louder.

After a moment, there was the scuffleed sound of hurried footsteps on the stairs. A second after that, Faith popped into my room and immediately hopped onto the bed, pinning me loosely underneath her body. She had a wide grin on her face as she looked down at me.

"Whaddup B?"

I knew a matching grin was already on my face as my hands began wandering slowly up and down her sides. "You seem to be particularly chipper today. Maybe I should ask *you* what's up."

She lowered her face until her cheek was almost touching mine. "Can't a girl be in a good mood...especially since she's got her girlfriend pinned underneath her on the bed."

I grinned wider and if she could've seen it, she would have known I was up to something. Using a move I'd learned a while back when dealing with a particularly tough vamp who'd gotten me in this exact same position, I gathered all the leverage I could get and flipped the both of us so that I ended on top, pinning Faith's body underneath my own this time.

"Now who's in a good mood?" I asked with a wicked grin.

After a brief flash of surprise, Faith smiled again but instead of answering, she just wrapped her arms around my waist and urged me closer.

"What were you doing?" I asked, my hand lightly tracing the arch on her left eyebrow.

"Out for a run," she said, cocking the eyebrow in question. That's when I noticed she had on her official Sunnydale HS athletic shorts and T-shirt which were both liberally covered in sweat.

"Ewww." I wrinkled my nose and tried pulling away but her hold around my waist remained firm as she started chuckling.

"You didn't seem to mind too much before I told you."

"Before you told me, I was still half asleep. Now, I'm fully awake and all my senses are telling me you stink." I pulled away again and this time, I succeeded.

"I'm heartbroken, B," she blandly said, still laid out on the bed as if she had absolutely no intention of moving. "I thought you loved me --- sweat, grime, and all. You've burst my bubble and now, if you don't mind, I'll be spiraling into my own little state of depression."

"If that's anywhere near the state of irritation, maybe you can come and visit me." I continued staring at her until she finally threw up her hands in surrender and rolled off the bed with a lackluster air.

But as she passed me on the way out the door, she added, playfully, "You wouldn't want to join me, would you?"

I gently but forcefully pushed her out the door, suppressing the grin that threatened to pop up my face. Just as I propelled her into the bathroom, the phone began ringing and I ran down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time to get it before it reached the sixth ring. "Hello?"

"Hello. Can I speak with Miss Summers please?"

"Speaking."

"Miss Summers. This is Officer Ryan. You reported a missing car yesterday?"

"Yes." My heart started speeding up at the mention of the car.

"The good news is, we've found it..."

There was a pause and I closed my eyes, feeling the pain starting to creep into the back of my skull. "And the bad news?" I asked, as if I really wanted to know.

"...I think you'd better come down to the lot."

*****