“Let me just see if I have this right: You convinced Buffy to eat a plum . . . Riley asked her out to do something lame . . . he thinks you and Buffy are going out. . . so you and Buffy are going out?” She asked, trying to put the pieces of the vague Faith-puzzle together.

“At least for ten days. I told her I could convince her that’s what she wants,” Faith answered nonchalantly.

“Like you convinced her about the plum?” Willow asked doubtfully, her eyebrow raised.

Faith sighed.

“Okay, the plum thing was a fluke . . . I knew that she’d be wicked hungry cos she missed breakfast this mornin and she always joneses for sweet or sugary stuff halfway through the day anyway. I took the plum and pretended I was gonna eat it, and she grabbed it back. Basic psychology, Red. That and common sense.”

Willow laughed a little.

“So . . . the Buffster and you are seriously going to try this?”

“Yep. Startin’ today, for ten days, she’s mine and I’m hers. I keep tellin’ her that college is about trying new things. You know that first-hand, Red. Buffy’s too shy and uptight to just try it with some random person and god knows I’ve been tryin’ to push her buttons since last semester. So, I just decided to step up to bat. Besides, I’m also doin’ this to help her get Riley off her back. Beefstick can’t seem to take a hint.”

“I just hope the both of you can handle this. You’re the get-some get-gone girl, and she’s more of a white picket fence girl. I hope this isn’t just a sex thing for you, Faith, because Buffy is sensitive when it comes to that stuff. Sex isn’t just a pleasure thing for her . . . it’s an emotion thing,” Willow said, making sure to get the point across that she was serious.

Faith shook her head. “It’s not just a sex thing, Red. I mean, I’m not gonna rule sex out, cos . . . well, I’m not an idiot . . . healthy young woman here with an even healthier sex-jones. Plus, it’s Buffy . . . hello . . . hotness abounds, or whatever. But, it’s more than that,” she said and hesitated before continuing. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.”

She leaned in, indicating for Willow to do the same thing. Willow laughed internally just thinking how young Faith looked at that moment.

“It’s . . . it’s not just a challenge for Buffy. It’s a challenge for me too, only she doesn’t know that. Ya see . . . I’ve never done the relationship thing. Like you said, I’m the get-some get-gone girl. But I figure, I’m always on Buffy’s back to try a little change and expand her horizons, so I should take my own advice. If I had to choose someone to be in a relationship with, it’d be B. We have this connection. I can’t really explain it, but she feels it too, told me so this afternoon. So really, we both have a challenge here. Hers is to let go of those fuckin inhibitions and try the girl thing, and mine is to do the relationship thing and behave . . . yunno, listen to my morals or whatever.”

Willow watched intently as Faith rambled on. She could see that it wasn’t just a sex thing because if it was, Faith wouldn’t be trying to explain and defend herself so much. She finally decided to let her off the hook.

“Okay, Faith. I believe you. I’ll go along with the whole thing, and I’ll even be Support Girl. If you need my help along the way, I’m here, even if it’s just to help you arrange stuff with the Buffster.” She gave Faith a friendly smile which Faith promptly returned. “But . . . if you hurt her, I’ll curse you with a set of horns and a tail. Are we clear on that?”

Faith laughed.

“Crystal. I get it, Red. Hey, I hope ya don’t think I’m cuttin’ ya short here or nothin, but I gotta get to the construction site to talk to Xan-man before he leaves. So, we’re cool, right?” She asked as she stood up, getting ready to leave.

Willow nodded, “Like an igloo.”

Faith chuckled.

“Guess that’s pretty friggin cool. Alright, I’ll catch ya later. Tell Tara I said hey.”

*****************************************
30 Minutes Later at the Construction Site
*****************************************

“So . . . the Buffster and ‘She-of-little-Faith’ are gonna be making with the girly action?” Xander asked.

Faith just nodded with a grin on her face.

“Okay, cool,” Xander replied. “You wouldn’t by any chance let me watch, would you?” hejoked with a goofy smile on his face.

Faith gave him a menacing glare. “No.”

“I didn’t think so,” Xander said quickly, sounding only minutely dejected. “Well, you better get on your girly-loving way. I don’t wanna keep Buffy away from her love bug for too long.”

With an amused smile, Faith turned and began to walk away after saying,

“Thanks, Xan-man. I’ll be sure to make doubles if we take any pictures.”

Xander laughed.

As Faith walked away, she couldn’t help but notice that Xander had been easier to convince that Willow. He hadn’t even threatened her.

“Hey, Faith, there’s just one thing I forgot,” Xander called out after her.

Faith halted and turned around expectantly. “Yeah?”

“You break her heart, I break your legs . . . or at least I die trying,” he said in a serious tone but with a big smile on his face.

“I’ll hold ya to that,” Faith said as she turned around and headed off to her dorm, and to her girlfriend.

Girlfriend. Yeah, she could definitely get used to the sound of that, even if only temporarily.

***************************
Meanwhile, Back at the Dorm
***************************

Buffy stepped out of their private bathroom after taking a long and cold shower. She needed to make sure that she cooled herself down before Faith got back, otherwise she might completely forget her inhibitions and jump her right then and there.

She couldn’t help but smile when she thought about how lucky they were to have their own private bathroom. Only two rooms per floor were equipped with that luxury and usually were designated for the Resident Advisors. However, the college had changed its rules and now staffed only one advisor per floor rather than the usual two. The other room was put up in a lottery, and somehow, Buffy had won it.

At first she thought that the private bathroom was the reason that Faith wanted to room with her. After all, she had to share with eight other roommates in her old apartment. Though Faith had admitted that the bathroom was definitely a helping factor in her decision, she said that the bigger part of her decision was simply that she’d rather room with Buffy than anyone else.

Buffy hummed to herself as she walked around the room in her towel, trying to pick out an outfit while tidying up the mess that she made with the pillows and stuffed animals. Deciding that she needed some music, she walked to Faith’s CD player and hit play.

An old Limp Bizkit CD began to filter through the speakers. A year ago, Buffy would have immediately put on something else, like Sarah Mclachlan or Madonna, or even No Doubt if she was feeling a little saucy. But now, she actually enjoyed the music that Faith was always blaring. It made her feel energetic and crazy, and just a little bit untamed.

She continued to straighten up around the room, picking up the chewed wads of gum, empty pop cans and water bottles, and dirty clothes that lingered in areas. Not to say that the two slayers were slobs, especially when compared to some of their fellow classmates. Still, they did leave things just a little bit messy sometimes, too preoccupied with homework, slaying, or going out to really care.

Just as she was about to enter the bathroom to finish getting ready, a new song began and she stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around to look at the stereo with a large grin on her face.

“Oh my god . . . you have got to be kidding me!” She said aloud, giggling as she walked to the other side of the room and picked up the empty CD case, turning it over in her hands to look at the playlist.

An idea quickly sprung into her mind. Knowing that her roommate could be back at any moment, she hopped into action.

“Well, I guess that if you’ve gotta have faith, you’ve gotta do it the right way,” she giggled.

She quickly ran around the room, gathering up a few different articles of clothing before heading into the bathroom. Just as she was about the close the bathroom door, she ran back out to Faith’s closet and grabbed something from it with a smile on her face. With a mischievous smile planted firmly on her face, she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, humming the song all the way.

****************************
45-Minutes Later at the Room
****************************

Faith entered the room with a smile on her face.

“Honeyyyyy, I’m hoooooooome!” She sang out, immediately searching the room for Buffy.

She instantly noticed that the room had been straightened up. She could also tell that Buffy girl had showered as the fresh scent of her vanilla-pear shampoo lingered throughout the room.

Her attention was caught by something that was distinctly out of place in the newly straightened room: the chair from her desk sat in the middle of the room between the two beds. On it was a piece of paper, folded in half and propped up like a card.

She sauntered over to the chair, searching out of the corner of her eyes for the Buffy. When she got to the chair, she picked up the paper and unfolded it.

‘Sit Down,’ it read.

With a cocky grin on her face, Faith plopped down on the chair, deciding to play along. She folded her arms behind her head and stretched her legs out, crossing them at her ankles. When she was comfortable, she decided to find out what was going on.

“B? I got your note, and I’m sittin’ here patiently like a good little Slayer. Now, are ya gonna tell me what this is about or do I have to burst in there and force it outta ya?” She yelled in the general direction of the closed bathroom door.

After a minute passed and she got no response, she was just about to lift herself out of the chair when she heard the door creak open just a crack. She laughed to herself when she saw Buffy’s hand sneak out of the small crack, clutching onto something.

She realized that Buffy was holding the remote control to her stereo, randomly pushing buttons on it to get it to turn on. She wondered what exactly Buffy was up to when a suddenly familiar song began playing on the stereo.

Faith smiled to herself. It was “Faith” by Limp Bizkit, a cover of the old George Michael song.

Suddenly, Buffy stepped out of the bathroom barefoot, dressed in the tightest pair of jeans that she had, now torn at the knee. She had on a tight white tank top that was barely visible under Faith’s black leather jacket. Her long blonde hair was blow-dried straight and left to shaggily hang over her eyes and shoulders. As a finishing touch, she had applied a thick layer of Faith’s charcoal gray eyeliner and smoothed on some of the dark lipstick that she had taken from Joyce’s makeup box.

Faith inhaled sharply at the sight in front of her. Buffy looked . . . well, fucking hot. Especially when she was looking up through her heavily mascara-d eyelashes, like she was doing right now.

‘Holy shit’ Faith thought as she tightly grabbed onto the armrests of the chair.

Buffy smiled, momentarily distracted by Faith’s reaction. However, she quickly looked away, determined to get through with her plan.

As the vocals of the song began, she started to lip-sync the words.

“Well I guess it would be nice
if I could touch your body
I know not everybody
has gotta body like me”

She ran her hands up and down her body, dancing provocatively as she approached the seated girl.

“But I gotta think twice
before I give my heart away
and I know all the games you play
'cause I play them too . . .”

By this point of the song, she had made her way over to Faith and now was sitting in her lap, her back to Faith’s ample chest. She wriggled around, making sure to create just the right amount of friction between them.

She continued to lip-sync the words, looking over her shoulder to gauge Faith’s reaction. Faith’s lips were parted and Buffy could tell that her teeth were clenched beneath them, trying to hold back any groans that were trying to escape. Buffy leaned back further, casually licking Faith’s bottom lip before hopping off of her lap and jumping onto the bed as the tempo changed.

“I’ve gotta have faith!
gotta have faith!
gotta have faith!
gotta have faith!”

She pretended to scream the words as the singer did while ripping off the leather jacket and tossing it across the room. Her toned figure was revealed through the tight clothes as she stood on the bed, alternating between jumping and doing a sexy little dance. She made sure to keep her eyes firmly locked on Faith in the chair below her.

Faith, for her part, was trying to look very cool and calm, but it was quite obvious that she was getting hot and bothered. Her chest was rapidly rising and falling and her pupils had dilated so much that her eyes looked black from desire.

As the tempo of the song finally began to slow down, Buffy hopped down off of the bed and sat on Faith’s lap so that she was facing her. She gave her a huge smile as she wrapped her arms around Faith’s neck.

“So, Day One of the Challenge is here, and I thought I’d make it official,” she beamed.

“Yeah, I guess you did,” was all that Faith could reply, still a little taken aback by the little display.

“So . . . you like?” Buffy asked, suddenly feeling a little shy.

Faith gave her a wicked grin.

“Yeah, I definitely fuckin like. Didn’t think ya had it in ya, B. Let me just say. . . I can definitely get used to stuff like this.”

“Good,” Buffy stated, moving one of her hands to Faith’s face. “Because for ten days, you get the special Buffy Treatment, complete with silly and sexy dances alike.” She brushed a piece of hair out of Faith’s face before running her thumb over her full bottom lip.

Faith, feeling more than a bit frisky, quickly opened her mouth and licked Buffy’s thumb, sending a shiver through the other girls’ body. .

“Okay. And for ten days, you get the special Faith Treatment, complete with shivers and chills alike.”

“Hmm. I think I could get to like that,” Buffy said with a smile as she closed the distance between the two of them, finally bringing their lips together in a soft kiss.