They were nearly an hour into their patrol and Buffy still hadn’t said more than two words at a time to Faith. It made Faith uncomfortable; she was used to Buffy talking her ear off about this or that, but something was different tonight. Faith wasn’t sure if she’d done something to upset the other girl but she wasn’t going to let it fester until it turned into something ugly.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked after a few minutes of complete silence.

Buffy looked over at her, pulled from her own thoughts.

“What?”

“Did I piss you off or something? Cos, I mean, normally by now I’d know about what you had for lunch and what you’re gonna wear tomorrow, and what songs you loaded on your iPod for tomorrow’s workout. Don’t think I can live with the suspense of if I’ll see the pink shirt or purple shirt at breakfast tomorrow.”

Buffy laughed softly and shook her head, focusing ahead of them again as they kept walking slowly through the cemetery. She hadn’t answered, nor had she given Faith a playful slap on the arm like Faith was expecting. Like she usually would have.

Something was definitely wrong.

Faith finally stopped and waited for Buffy to realize it. After just a few steps Buffy turned and faced her with an eyebrow raised.

“B, what’s up? You’ve been quiet – too quiet – all night and I’ve barely seen you at all since Giles’ trust exercise a couple days ago. Are you still pissed about that? Cos if it makes you feel better you can blindfold me and lead me through the mud too.”

Buffy laughed quietly again but then her smile became a bit less easy as she brought her hand up to her forehead and rubbed it gently.

“No. No, it’s not that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Yes. I . . . I just . . .”

“What?” Faith asked, taking a few steps closer until she was just arms length away.

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Buffy said after a moment, plastering on a fake smile. She tried to turn to keep walking but Faith reached out and caught her arm, keeping her still.

“B, let’s not go back to that place where we run away from each other any time things get weird. Finish what you were saying.”

It took Buffy a few moments, staring down at the space between them before finally finding the right words.

“When I was blindfolded and you were trying to get me to trust you again, I thought you . . . I thought I felt you . . .” she trailed off and shook her head a little, suddenly losing her nerve.

“What?” Faith asked quietly, stepping even closer.

It took Buffy a second but she finally managed a wry smile as she continued staring down at the ground, “I thought I felt your . . . it felt like you almost kissed me.”

That literally took Faith by surprise and she had no idea how she was supposed to respond. Was Buffy angry about that? It didn’t seem like it. In fact, it seemed like she was almost regretful that an actual kiss hadn’t happened. She decided not to get too far ahead of herself, though, and instead went for apologetic.

“Listen, I’m sorry, B. Really. I’ll try to keep my lips to myself from now on. Slayer’s honor. You were just all blind-folded and being cute and stubborn; couldn’t help myself. I’ll be good though, promise.”

She even held her hand up when she said that, trying to offer Buffy her friendliest smile even though the girl still wasn’t looking at her.

“That’s not what I meant,” Buffy said quietly. She took a chance and looked up, watching how Faith reacted to that.

Faith tilted her head to the side just a little, watching the emotions flicker behind Buffy’s eyes.

“You mean you don’t want me to keep my lips to myself?”

“I don’t know,” Buffy answered with a shrug. “Maybe.”

“Should I help you figure it out?”

Buffy looked at her skeptically for a moment before asking, “How?”

Faith didn’t say anything else. She just closed the last bit of distance between them and gave Buffy one last chance to back away before lowering her head down to hers. Their lips met softly, fleetingly, and it was Buffy who pulled back first, quickly lowering her head. She screwed her eyes shut tightly and tried not to smile, or giggle, but it was so difficult, especially with the way her heart was beating like crazy in her chest.

“What?” Faith asked, smiling as she ducked her head down so she could try to see Buffy’s face.

“Nothing,” Buffy answered through her smile, still unable to open her eyes.

“Then why ya smiling like that?” Faith ran her hands down Buffy’s arms until their fingers intertwined.

“I can’t help it.”

“Why?

“Because you kissed me!”

“Yeah, and I’m gonna try to do it again soon as you can open up your eyes and stop tryin’ to hide against my shoulder.”

It took Buffy a second but she finally managed to lift her head, and then a few seconds later she was able to open her eyes. The giddy smile was there to stay though.

Faith dipped her head down a little and brought their faces closer together, staring into Buffy’s green eyes and looking for the go-ahead. She got all the go-ahead she needed when Buffy closed the last bit of distance between them and brought their lips together again, kissing her softly but surely.

It wouldn’t go down in history as the most romantic of first kisses or even the best, but Buffy and Faith knew better than to focus on history. It was the future they were both thinking about.