“You get slick, I’ll get the big guy,” Faith told her excitedly, pointing at the small guy with slicked back hair and then jumping at the largest vampire of the three.

She started wailing on him while Buffy got close to her rather confused looking vampire.

“Welcome back to life,” Buffy quipped. “Unfortunately your stay’s gonna be pretty short this time.”

“Huh?” slick grunted, watching as his friend became Faith’s punching bag as the other one peeled himself off the tree.

“You vampire, me slayer.”

He still seemed none the wiser and Buffy rolled her eyes. This guy obviously hadn’t been studying anything too difficult in college that’s for sure. Without much more fuss, Buffy raised her staking arm and advanced quickly towards him. He coward back and Buffy felt momentarily sorry for him, but then his face shifted and long fangs prodded at his lower lip.

“What the. . .” he murmured around his new teeth, looking completely confused.

“Sorry,” Buffy told him, always slightly perturbed when they failed to fight back or even run.

She quickly found his undead heart with her stake, plunging in and out of his chest and watching him disintegrate. A cool breeze blew the dust right at Buffy, into her eyes. She closed them but it was too late; the stinging making her lift her hands up to her face to swipe away the grit.

“Shit!” Buffy heard to her left.

Blinking furiously to clear her vision Buffy realised that Faith seemed to be in a spot of bother, which was always the case when she toyed with the vampires instead of killing them right away.

“Faith, what’s going on? I can’t see,” she yelled towards Faith and the sound of struggling.

The more Buffy rubbed at her eyes the worse her vision seemed to get, but she could just about make out Faith trying to finish off one vampire as the other one swung a large tree branch towards her head.

“Duck!” Buffy called out, grabbing at her stake again and moving towards Faith.

Reacting quickly, Faith ducked, causing the vampire to hit his buddy in the head with the branch instead. He yelped in pain and Faith laughed, pushing the now dazed vampire to the ground as she turned towards the other one. Buffy kept moving, the dust finally clearing enough to see and aim her stake at the guy on the floor. She threw it and made sure he went poof before turning her attention to Faith.

With a resounding snap, Faith broke the remaining vampire’s leg with a hard kick, yanking on the branch he was holding and taking it from him. He bared his fangs at her in anger, but he looked frightened.

“I’ll teach you to come at me with foliage,” Faith snarled at him, taking a swipe at him and sending him flying Buffy’s way as it hit his midriff.

Buffy caught him, spinning him around and head-butting him in the face. She tasted blood from her own lip and regretted the move. The vampire caught the smell of her blood and his eyes glowed even more yellow than they were before. He ignored the pain in his leg and the overwhelming odds against him, straining in Buffy’s hands to get towards her neck.

“Oh, dude, your breath smells like old diapers,” Buffy complained, jerking her head back and bringing her knee up to catch him in the groin.

He slumped to the ground and Buffy saw Faith approaching with her stake ready to strike him. Annoyed that Faith had managed to turn a simple fight into a debacle, Buffy reached in her jacket pocket for her own fresh stake, speedily ending the vampire’s misery before Faith could get the slay. She’d be pissed about that, but so was Buffy.

“Awww, come on, B!” Faith whined as dust sprinkled to the floor in front of Buffy. “You fucking staked all three. So not fucking fair.”

She was balling her fists and glaring dangerously at Buffy, her nostrils flared in frustration. It almost looked like she was readying herself to fight, or to lash out at least. As worrying as that was, Buffy couldn’t help but notice just how hot Faith looked when she was angry. Her eyes were dark and menacing, little flashes of gold within them making the brown glint and sparkle in the moonlight. Her body was taut and chest heaving with every breath. It really should have been illegal to look that good when irate.

Patting dust off her clothes, Buffy tried to ignore the tingle in the bottom of her stomach that Faith was busy causing.

She glared right back at Faith. “Faith,” she said firmly, hoping to bring her back from the edge. “You were being reckless and fucking around. Somebody had to step in and get control.”

Stepping closer, like a hunter closing in on its prey, Faith narrowed her eyes at Buffy.

“Don’t Faith me,” she warned, the current venom in her voice doing nothing to detract from its husky sexiness. “I wasn’t fucking around.”

Buffy was about to dispute that fact, raising a finger ready to wave it accusingly at Faith, but the other girl apparently wasn’t done.

“And besides,” Faith continued, her body getting far too close now for Buffy to ignore the way it made her long and yearn for contact with it, “the only fucking I wanna be doing right now is with you, and you’re not about to. . .”

Buffy snapped, unable to stand Faith being so close without reacting. She lunged forward, grabbing Faith’s face in her hands and bringing them together.

The kiss was hard and hurried and it took Faith a few seconds to react and kiss Buffy back, but when she did they both lost themselves to it. Clashing teeth and grasping lips were joined by tongues twisting and fighting for domination. There was an explosion of new tastes and sounds and feelings, and Buffy felt faint trying to distinguish one from another.

There was a hint of mint toothpaste, and chocolate flavoured lip-gloss. Faith’s full lips were unlike any Buffy had kissed before; soft yet insistent, and oh so damn sexy. She allowed Faith’s tongue to slip into her mouth, moaning quietly as she nudged at it with her own. In fact, she continued moaning as Faith pressed against her, bringing her hands up to Buffy’s hips so she could pull them together. Her body felt electrified, on fire and starving for more contact. Buffy couldn’t recall ever having felt so completely turned on before from just a kiss. Buffy never wanted it to end but she desperately needed to take a breath if she was going to avoid fainting on the spot.

Dropping her hands to Faith’s shoulders, Buffy eased up a little, touching her lips to Faith’s softer than before as she willed herself to break the kiss. Now she’d felt Faith’s lips on her own she knew she was in trouble; there would be no going back now. There would be no longing for cold, dead kisses from her boyfriend when she’d had hot, sumptuous kisses from Faith. There really was no contest and it made Buffy want to indulge, to take what she wanted and be with Faith the way she’d been reluctantly fantasising about for months.

“Crap,” Buffy murmured in consternation as she removed her lips from Faith.

“Well damn, that’s definitely not what a girl wants to hear after being kissed,” Faith said with a slight chuckle, keeping her hands on Buffy’s hips as they looked into each other’s eyes.

Buffy gave Faith a shy smile and shook her head, sliding her hands up around to the back of Faith’s neck so she could touch the soft skin there. She licked her lips, tasting the lingering flavour of chocolate.

“I didn’t mean it was crap,” Buffy clarified, looking up through her lashes at Faith, “I just meant. . .I’m gonna want to do that again. A lot.”

Running her hands up to Buffy’s sides and back down to her hips a few times, doing more to urge Buffy on rather than make her come to her senses, Faith gave her a lascivious smirk.

“I thought you needed to think, or that you needed time or some shit,” Faith reminded her.

“I think too much,” Buffy countered. “And maybe it’s because I’m all hopped up on slaying, or because you got all pissed, but you’ve never looked so stunning to me as you do right now.”

Faith gave her a quizzical look; she seemed taken aback, and it took a few seconds for her to respond.

“Well I don’t care what the reason is; I just want you so bad right now I could fucking explode.”

With that she brought their lips together once more, and Buffy didn’t even question whether or not she should be kissing Faith again. There was no stopping this, and as she felt her feet moving with Faith towards the nearby tree she realised all hope, or reasons to prevent the inevitable, were quickly becoming irrelevant.

Their lips moved hungrily against each other and Buffy whimpered unashamedly as she allowed herself to be pushed up against the large tree. The bark scratched at her clothes but she didn’t care. All she cared about was feeling Faith’s heat, and the delicious sensation of her firm body now rubbing up against her.

“Need to touch you,” Buffy said across Faith’s lips, surprising herself with the admission. “Now.”

Without waiting for permission, Buffy let her hands run down Faith’s arms, moving them to her waist and stomach. She smiled and felt her butterflies flapping into overdrive as Faith moaned lightly into her mouth, Buffy’s fingertips pushing under tight material. Faith’s skin was warm and soft, small muscles reacting as she pushed upwards under her top.

“You can touch me anytime you want,” Faith said huskily, whispering kisses over Buffy’s lips, down over her chin to her neck and back again. “All yours.”

Buffy felt her insides melt and wondered if Faith knew she’d said something much more meaningful than just “I want you to fuck me”. There was no way she was going to risk ruining the mood by bringing it up so she filed it away in her mind and captured Faith’s mouth with her own forcibly, kissing Faith passionately in acceptance of the offer. Her hands continued on their journey up, skimming over silky skin before reaching the satin material of a restrictive bra.

Though she’d never done this before and had no idea what she was doing, Buffy was flying on instinct. She knew how she wanted to touch Faith and she knew there was no use attempting not to. The slayer in her wanted some gratification after slaying, and the Buffy in her just really needed to make Faith moan for her. Tripping her fingers up over the bra Faith had disappointingly chosen to wear that evening, Buffy felt her panties getting uncomfortably sticky. Hard nipples strained against her fingertips and she quivered at Faith’s reaction; a shaky moan that had subtle traces of Buffy’s secretly favourite “ungh” sound.

Buffy leaned back against the tree, just out of reach of Faith’s lips for the moment as she slid her fingers over and around the delightfully erect nipples. She watched Faith’s face as her eyes closed and mouth waited for Buffy to come back to it; heavy lips looking even more full and enticing than before.

Wondering if she’d ever truly realised just how beautiful Faith was, Buffy swiftly moved her hands under the only material separating her from what she most wanted right then. It was a tight squeeze but she managed to grab hold of Faith’s fleshy breasts under her bra, filling her hands with them as Faith hummed in satisfaction.

“Fuck,” Faith exclaimed, resting her forehead against Buffy’s and beginning to subtly rock her hips forward, searching for more contact.

Though she couldn’t quite believe they were doing this now, here, Buffy slipped her thigh between Faith’s legs, giving her something to press against. It also meant Faith’s thigh was between her own legs now, and that was nothing short of a wonderful consequence.

“Oh, Faith,” Buffy practically whimpered when she felt a hand sliding up to cup her breast and toy with her nipple.

The juxtaposition of feeling Faith’s breasts as Faith did the same back was exquisite. It felt sexy and naughty and all kinds of hot. There was something incredibly salacious about this, and it spurred Buffy on. She wanted Faith more than she’d known was possible. It was totally clear to her now; running from this had been stupid, and a really silly waste of time considering they could have been doing this from the start.

Faith kissed along Buffy’s jaw, teeth nipping as she leaned down a little to get at her neck. Her mouth was hot and lips tantalising as they frayed Buffy’s edges and unravelled her virtue.

“I wanna fuck you,” Faith breathed against Buffy’s skin, sending shudders through her. She flicked her tongue over Buffy’s throat and pressed firmly against her between her legs. “Wanna fuck you so much.”

The combination of Faith’s sexy drawl and the pressure between her legs had Buffy on the brink of coming right then and there, but she certainly didn’t want to embarrass herself. The only cure for that would be to allow things to develop in the way they both obviously wanted. The adrenaline soaked haze of slaying and the overwhelming desire she had for Faith was robbing her of any sense. There could be no control over this, no restraint or will to walk away.

Crashing her mouth back to Faith’s, Buffy rubbed her thumbs over Faith’s nipples, delighting in how it made Faith squirm against her. She sucked on the fleshy lower lip that had always fascinated her, and used her teeth to make Faith practically growl at her.

When she felt a hand sliding between them and heading towards the buttons on her jeans, Buffy had no hope of halting its journey. Heart pounding and body pulsing with need, Buffy allowed Faith to snap open a way into her pants, breathing hard into her mouth as fingertips slid downwards behind the material.

“Here?” Buffy asked with a tremble as Faith pushed inside her panties.

“Yeah.”

“But. . .”

“There’s nobody around but us,” Faith said across her lips before kissing Buffy deeply.

Buffy held her breath as Faith’s fingertips crept over her finely cropped hair and down towards her already soaked pussy. She wasn’t sure how things had gone so fast so soon but she didn’t have the capacity to care right now. As she let out a shuddering breath, Faith slipped her fingers over her between her folds, gathering the moisture there and spreading it easily around.

Unable to form words or even mumble coherently, Buffy moaned into Faith’s mouth before pulling away so she could take a deeper breath. She gasped and tried to stop herself from shaking but Faith was now fingering her clit and making normal thoughts and actions impossible. Slipping over and around her, Faith left Buffy in no doubt that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Letting go of one of Faith’s breasts, Buffy decided she wanted to do the same for Faith, regardless of the fact she really had no idea what to do. It couldn’t be that hard, however; she was pretty good at doing this kind of thing to herself. In essence, it was the same, though obviously a hell of a lot more pleasurable. Whilst moving against Faith’s hand in her panties, covering the fingers there in her desire, Buffy trailed her right hand down to Faith’s pants, snagging on the waistband and finding her way towards the zip.

She felt excited and nervous, swept up and swimming in a desire she’d never experienced before. Unlike her first - slow and tender - time with Angel, this was all about sex and need; the desperate desire to feel something, to come, to open wide to each other and dive inside. Popping open Faith’s button and pulling down the zip, Buffy fought to hold in a loud whimper as Faith’s fingers sped over her swollen clit. Trying to concentrate on getting into Faith’s pants was difficult when she was already on the verge of coming.

Moaning into Faith’s neck, Buffy rolled her hips forward, quivering with need. Her fingers now disappearing into tight panties, she let out a wanton groan that surprised herself.

“Faith,” Buffy sighed, just to say the name. Just to feel it whisper over her lips as her mouth worked over the sensitive skin of Faith’s throat.

“Fuck, Buffy,” Faith responded, mostly to the fingers now slipping in between her wet folds.

The warm, wet, sumptuous sensation of having her fingers gliding over Faith’s sex exploded inside Buffy; fragments of herself torpedoing outwards, twisting and spiralling as she let go.

“Oh, God,” Buffy gasped, body moving quicker in time with Faith’s expert attention on her clit.

She was so close.

But a noise to her left caught Buffy’s keen hearing, halting the tidal wave inside her.

“Wait,” Buffy implored, ineffectively trying to back away from Faith’s relentless fingers.

“No waiting,” Faith insisted, pushing her fingers lower and making Buffy squirm between wanting more and wondering what the noise had been.

A cracking branch decided for her and she pulled her hand out of Faith’s pants, instantly missing the silky feel of her against her fingertips.

“Seriously, Faith. Wait,” she repeated.

“Come on, B,” Faith whined, holding her fingers still and looking urgently into Buffy’s eyes. “It’s probably just a cat or something.”

“Yeah well, it’s the or something I’m worried about.”

It wasn’t as if she wanted to stop; Buffy had been quite happy to tumble off the edge for Faith. Her body was buzzing and clit throbbing for closure, but she couldn’t turn off her slayer instincts.

“We should check it out quickly,” Buffy insisted. Faith pouted in a way Buffy had never seen before and it made her smile and lean in to kiss her. “Then maybe we can go back to your place,” she added, pulling back and sighing happily at the now familiar taste of chocolate lip-gloss.

“When you say go back to my place. . .you don’t really mean go home – on your own – and forget about this do you?” Faith asked, sounding sceptical.

“I promise, we’ll go back to yours,” Buffy assured, gasping slightly as Faith moved her fingers briefly against her as she slowly, very slowly, pulled her hand out of Buffy’s panties.

She gave Buffy a disgruntled look but stepped away anyway, letting Buffy remove her hands from her and button herself up. Groaning as she watched Faith lift her now sticky fingers to her mouth, Buffy almost changed her mind and jumped Faith again.

“Damn, you taste good,” Faith purred, the deep rumble to her voice only making it harder to postpone what they both wanted.

Clit twitching as she watched Faith lick her juices from her fingers, Buffy stepped close to her again, capturing Faith’s mouth with her own for one last kiss before they had to make a move. She could taste herself faintly on her lips and it made her think of all the things they could do together. . .once they got the hell out of there and to Faith’s motel room.

“Ok, let’s do a quick sweep and then get the hell out of here,” Buffy instructed, tugging on Faith to follow her.

“Yo, Buff,” Faith exclaimed, pulling her arm free so she could do her pants back up, “catchin’ a breeze here.”

“Sorry.”

“Got me so damn wet,” Faith continued, muttering as Buffy gazed into the bushes ahead.

Buffy moaned and felt her stomach twist in desire at the words, heart fluttering in her chest in a way that was both terrifying and wonderful. Turning quickly from the bushes back to Faith, Buffy grabbed hold of the other girl’s shoulders to ensure she had her full attention.

“Let’s go,” she said breathlessly, needing to have Faith, and have her completely.

“But what about the. . .”

“There’s nothing there,” Buffy replied. “No cat, no demons, nothing, so let’s get going so I can. . .” She looked Faith over, not knowing quite what she wanted to do but knowing she was going to have the best time finding out. “So I can fuck you in every way you’re going to show me how.”

Faith’s mouth dropped open a little way and her pupils dilated, sucking in the light around them and making Buffy practically want to run towards the motel.

“Fuck,” Faith said with a feral grin, “you better believe it, Twinkie. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”

The present, back in the library. . .

Buffy glanced from her friends back to Faith, wishing she could turn invisible and make a hasty exit. But she’d only ever known one ‘invisible’ person and no amount of holding her breath and hoping was going to make Buffy similarly transparent. She had to tell Faith that her friends knew about what had happened, or lie and dig herself into a bigger hole.

“Yeah, they kinda know,” Buffy acknowledged.

“So, you’re telling people that we fucked, and about how you ran off back to Angel?” Faith questioned bitterly, barely keeping her voice low enough for Giles not to hear.

“Faith, I didn’t. . .” Buffy sighed and ushered Faith a little further away from Giles’ office. “I didn’t exactly say it that way, and I didn’t run back to Angel. I was just confused.”

“You didn’t seem all that confused when we were doing it, B.”

The hurt and anger in Faith’s voice was unmistakable and Buffy wasn’t keen on everybody hearing it, especially not her watcher.

“Let’s talk up there,” Buffy suggested, nodding towards the book laden shelves at the back of the library.

“What makes you think I wanna talk with you, Twinkie?” Faith asked, her defensive attitude clearly on show in her gestures and on her face.

Buffy almost felt like giving up and leaving things as they were; it would certainly make life easier. They could forget about what had happened and Buffy wouldn’t have to deal with the repercussions, like explaining any possible relationship with Faith to Giles, or her mom. She wouldn’t have to go through the judgments of not only family, but friends and peers. It really would be better just to put it behind them.

But Buffy couldn’t do that; not after the night they’d shared. Not when she wanted that night again and again, and more besides.

She looked seriously at Faith, swallowing her pride and hoping Faith could do the same. “Don’t pretend that you don’t wanna hear me apologise,” Buffy told her.

Faith narrowed her eyes and tried to keep all her barriers in place, but Buffy was beginning to see through them. She could see that Faith didn’t want to leave things in a bad place. Though she wasn’t sure if Faith was interested in any kind of relationship, there was no doubting that Buffy just leaving had hurt her.

“Yeah, whatever,” Faith finally responded, making her way towards the steps that lead up into the shelves.

Buffy followed, catching her friends’ eyes as she went. They looked worried, but hopeful. It made Buffy give them a small smile as she felt exactly the same. At least now she knew what she wanted, for the most part. It might not have been obvious right away to her, but after some thought, and after gauging the reaction of her friends, Buffy had something to aim for.

“Are we gonna do this quick? I got somewhere to be,” Faith said abruptly as she stopped behind one of the bigger shelves, hidden out of view of the other occupants of the room.

“Look, I know it was a shitty thing for me to do,” Buffy began, stepping close to Faith and feeling grateful that Faith didn’t instantly back away. “When I woke up I. . .I just panicked.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Faith said dismissively. “You woke up, regretted what we’d done, and got the hell out. I’ve done the same thing myself; you wake up with an uglier guy than the one you went home with and need to get the hell outta there before. . .”

“That’s not the same,” Buffy interrupted, choosing to be honest with Faith even if Faith didn’t want the same as her. “And I didn’t regret it; it was just a lot to deal with all at once.”

Faith looked away, disbelief etched into her features. She started fiddling with a book on the shelf beside them, tugging at the loose covering as it flapped away from the spine a little way. It didn’t seem like she was interested in continuing the conversation, but Buffy couldn’t just walk away. She’d have to persist through Faith’s stubbornness.

“Faith, I’m sorry I freaked out,” she said softly, stepping even closer, only just resisting the urge to reach out and touch Faith. Taking a deep breath, she surged ahead, being braver than she thought she would be. “I really liked being with you, and if you can ignore the fact I was an idiot. . .maybe we could. . .I dunno, maybe we could be. . .”

Her voice quietened and trailed off as she lost her way, not knowing quite how far to push with Faith. It was no big secret that Faith wasn’t the kind of girl who looked for relationships with the people she slept with, but Buffy hoped maybe they could try it; she just didn’t know how to ask.

“Maybe we could be what, B?” Faith asked, giving Buffy her full attention again, though her tone was still harsh and heated and her body language almost threatening.

There really wasn’t a safe answer she could give. Asking if they could enter into a relationship together, or date, or be more than just friends seemed like hurtling headlong into a minefield wearing big, giant clown-shoes. But not saying anything would mean no going back. If Buffy didn’t take a chance then there would probably never be another one.

“I know you’re not exactly looking for a relationship, and I know this would be kinda weird. . .at least for me but. . .”

“Whoa! Back up there, blondie,” Faith interrupted. “Are you forgetting you’ve got a boyfriend?”

She sounded bitter about that and Buffy couldn’t blame her.

“I don’t, exactly,” Buffy pointed out. “We argued last night and it’s pretty much over.”

“It’s ‘pretty much over’?” Faith questioned. “What’s that supposed to mean, I’m your backup plan or something in case it’s over for sure?”

“No!” Buffy quickly replied, wishing this kind of thing – conversation – was easier between them. “That’s not it. I just mean I haven’t officially told him. But it is over.”

“Why?” Faith asked sceptically, taking Buffy by surprise a little.

That wasn’t the question, or reaction she’d been expecting. Faith didn’t exactly like Angel, and most definitely didn’t like Angel with Buffy, so she’d been hoping for a little more happiness and excitement.

“A lot of reasons,” Buffy admitted, feeling a little sad now that she really thought about it. “It was probably doomed from the start. And yunno, the whole lack of sex thing.”

“That didn’t bother you about him before.”

“Well it does now,” Buffy declared. “You showed me how. . .” She swallowed hard and tried not to get swept away on the sudden butterflies in her belly at just the memory of their encounter. “You showed me how good it could be.”

Her stomach was twisting and turning and she just knew she was blushing.

“Yeah?” Faith asked, very subtly moving closer to Buffy.

“Oh yeah,” Buffy replied, allowing a sly smile to creep over her lips. “It was amazing. You were amazing.”

For a split second it almost looked as if Faith was also blushing, but she covered it quickly.

“It was pretty fucking good,” Faith agreed, a small smirk of her own easing some of the tension between them. But then the smile fell and she stopped all movement towards Buffy. “I’m still not exactly sure what’s goin’ on though, B. We fuck, you freak out, you don’t talk to me for days and then you dump your boyfriend? I’m kinda confused.”

“I’m sorry,” Buffy said again. “I just needed a little time, and then when I found out Angel had seen us. . .well, we fought and. . .”

“Wait! He saw us? When?”

“When we were in the cemetery,” Buffy told her, not keen on the way Faith’s jaw clenched again as she practically glared at her.

“Be specific, Buffy.”

“I think he saw the whole thing,” Buffy admitted, hating that he had, not only because of the way it would have hurt him, but also because it felt like her memory of those first kisses and the first touches would always be sullied by Angel’s presence. “The kissing, touching. . .”

“You mean he watched you groping me, and me stick my hand in your pants. . .and didn’t fucking say anything? He just stood there being some kinda pervert?”

Buffy looked down at her hands and wished she could defend him, but she didn’t exactly want to. She didn’t exactly have the right. Buffy knew she couldn’t very well be mad at him for watching when she’d been busy cheating on him. There was no moral high ground to take.

“And I guess that means you didn’t dump him, he dumped you for screwing around on him,” Faith accused. “So I am a backup.”

Not only did Faith look pissed off, she also looked upset. Buffy could see now that Faith – maybe deep down – wanted something more between them. More than just sex.

“You’re not a backup, Faith,” Buffy assured, hoping she could make Faith see the truth. “I might not have realised it right away, and it took me a while to work it out but I know now. . .I want this.”

She took Faith’s hand in her own, bracing herself for rejection but feeling her heart flutter when Faith didn’t pull away or avoid the contact. They both looked down at how their fingers slipped together and Buffy hoped Faith wouldn’t disappoint her with phrases like “get some, get gone” to explain them away.

“You want what exactly?” Faith asked tentatively, her voice taking on a soft and husky tone that made the hairs on the back of Buffy’s neck stand on end.

Though she’d only just decided on it, and though it was harder to say the words than to think them, Buffy had to get them out. She had to take the risk of rejection.

“I was wondering if you’d. . .” Buffy almost giggled with nerves but forced herself to continue, “be my girlfriend.”

The blush that burst over Buffy’s cheeks was ferociously hot and she had the overwhelming urge to run from the library in embarrassment at having asked. It had sounded completely weird, and silly, but it’s what she wanted. She knew that now for sure. The consequences of such a relationship would be something she’d think about later - much later – hopefully way after Faith said yes.

“You want me to be your girlfriend?” Faith asked slowly, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. “I. . .you’re joking right?”

Faith was unusually flustered, stammering her words and shaking her head in disbelief.

“I’m not joking,” Buffy reassured, lowering her voice a little when she heard shuffling not so far away. “We shared something more than just sex the other night, Faith. I think that’s why it scared me so much.”