Faith quickly showered and returned to the room wearing only a towel and using another to dry her hair.

"All yours, B," Faith grinned at her and walked past Buffy and over to her bed, opening her bag and rummaging through some clothes. "I even left you a little hot water."

"How thoughtful," Buffy responded sarcastically, giving her a fake smile for emphasis. Even with that, her eyes roamed Faith's body for a second. "As soon as I'm done, we'll get some food, right?"

"That's the plan, B," Faith said, trying not to notice Buffy seeming to check her out and hovered over her bag. She smiled at the thought of what Buffy was doing. "Better hurry up."

Buffy nodded and went into the bathroom, taking some clothes with her. She took a long shower, being it had been a couple days since she had one. She changed into the clothes she brought in with her and walked back into the room to find Faith had ordered room service.

Faith smirked at Buffy's shocked expression. She was sitting at the table, which was covered with food. "I don't know about you, B, but I really didn't want to go anywhere and didn't want to wait for you to get out of the bathroom." She paused. "God, you're such a girl. You take a long time to get ready."

"Well, sorry for being such a 'girl', but I like to take awhile. It's been awhile since I could shower and I was in there until I felt clean again," Buffy said, walking over to the table and sitting across from Faith. "So what did you order?"

"I didn't know what you'd want so I ordered a little of everything," Faith smiled. "The guy who brought it up looked at me real weird, though. I think he would have said something if I hadn't given him a huge tip. I guess he didn't realize how much we eat."

"How much you eat, Faith," Buffy pointed at the other slayer. "I don't eat that much."

"Whatever, miss 'nonfat yogurt'," Faith laughed. "You are such a liar."

Buffy got a coy smile on her face. "You actually remember that?"

Faith stopped laughing and smiled. "I remember everything, B," she said softly, looking Buffy in the eyes.

Buffy felt like she was seeing Faith for the first time. She felt almost... loved by the younger slayer and she didn't know how to handle it. She broke the mutual stare. "So what looks good here?" She touched one of the plates and pulled her hand back quickly. "And that's hot!"

"The food got here right before you got out of the bathroom so it hasn't had much time to cool off," Faith said. "And it all looks good to me. I was getting so sick of eating out of gas stations and rest stops."

"Me, too," Buffy agreed and the two dug into all the food in front of them. Buffy didn't realize how hungry was until she started eating and soon was grabbing food as fast as Faith.

"You're turning into me, B," Faith said, her mouth partially full, "and proving yourself wrong, too."

"Quiet, Faith," Buffy mumbled, grabbing a fry off Faith's plate, "I'm just real hungry." She pointed at her. "This is a one-time deal."

"Sure, B," Faith smirked and continued eating.

They ate the rest of the meal in relative silence. Once again, both caught the other eying them several times, but still didn't say anything. The two of them managed to eat everything there including burgers, fries, chicken wings and pieces of chocolate cake, among other things.

"Okay, I don't think I've ever eaten that much ever," Buffy leaned back in the chair as Faith gathered up the empty plates on a tray and put it outside the room door. She also grabbed the do not disturb sign and placed it in the key card slot, ensuring no one from the hotel staff would bother them.

"I'm gonna keep track of that, B," Faith laughed. She leaped and dove onto her bed. "I'm exhausted. Should we call it a night?"

"You're going to sleep now?" Buffy asked and looked over at the clock on the night table. "It's still early."

"Yeah, and we've spent the last to two days trying to get some sleep on a bus," Faith stated while stretching out on the bed. "I'd like to get some sleep without having to do it while sitting up and trying not to listen to others talk and snore and God knows what else."

"Okay," Buffy said sounding a little down and trying to hide the pout starting to form on her face. "I guess we should get some sleep."

Faith noticed Buffy's change in demeanor and gave her an evil grin, "What exactly did you have in mind, B?" She waggled her brow suggestively for emphasis.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at the other slayer. "I was only thinking we could talk awhile," she said casually. "We do have a few things to talk about, you know." She paused. "I mean, if you're up for it."

The brunette slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. "I guess so," she said slowly, looking a little apprehensive and looking everywhere but at Buffy. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, you," Buffy said, trying her hardest to look Faith in the eye but the young slayer wouldn't look at her so she ended up either looking at the wall or the floor instead.

After a minute, Faith finally looked up, her dark brown eyes huge and starting to water. She couldn't believe Buffy wanted to talk about her. "Why?"

"I guess I really don't know that much about you," Buffy sighed. "That's partially my fault, but you don't let people in, Faith. I wish I could have known more about you then. I keep thinking I could have helped you if I did."

Faith rubbed the side of her face and thought for a moment before speaking. "I don't think you could have helped, B. I'd already written you off by the time the council went for me and was so far gone by that time anyway, I don't think anyone could have helped unless they'd killed me."

"Don't think like that, Faith," Buffy chastised. "No one wanted you dead."

Faith opened her mouth to challenge the blonde's statement but thought better of it. She didn't want to get into an argument right now. They were supposed to be getting past all this. "What do you want to know?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know," she said shyly and Faith laughed. She thought for a minute. "Where are your parents?"

Faith's eyes immediately went black and her whole demeanor changed. Buffy knew it was anger she saw but she had never seen Faith that calm when angered, almost as though her senses had shut down. She thought she might have asked the wrong question. She got up from her bed and sat next to Faith, putting her hand on her thigh.

"Are you okay, Faith?" Buffy asked nervously. "I asked about the wrong thing, didn't I?"

Faith looked down at Buffy's hand on her thigh then up at Buffy. Her eyes slowly let go of the anger in them and was replaced with a sadness Buffy had never seen. "Yeah, B," she responded quietly, "I'm okay, just didn't expect that."

"It's bound to come up, Faith. You've never said anything about them," Buffy said slowly, not wanting to upset the brunette further. "You've never even said much about your childhood at all except for a couple stories when you first got called."

"I didn't want to talk about it," Faith said, trying to keep any anger or fury out of her voice. She took a deep breath. "My childhood, if you could call it that, sucked. I try not to think about."

"Do you want to talk about it now?"

Faith took a another deep breath. "My parents were both alcoholics, B," Faith started, looking down and refusing to look at Buffy, "all they cared about was the next drink. For as long as I can remember, anytime I did anything wrong, I got beat. When I was five, I spilled a glass of milk at dinner and my dad broke my arm."

Buffy moved her hand from Faith's thigh and started to rub her back slowly. "Didn't anyone do something about it? Your mom?"

"My mom helped," Faith started to tear up, "and my dad just told everyone I was clumsy. I was too scared of him to say anything."

"It got worse as I got older. My mom started to beat me more and my dad started to... touch me," Faith sobbed openly now and Buffy pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay, Faith," Buffy whispered to her, a few tears falling from her eyes. "You don't have to keep going."

"I want to get this out," Faith moved out of Buffy's embrace, "I don't think I can stop now." She tried to wiped the tears from her face but more replaced them. "He-he raped me, B. He told me I deserved it because I wasn't good enough to be his daughter. My mom told me I was a whore and just beat me more."

She continued through the tears. "One day my watcher showed up at school. She told the principal she was there because of a family emergency and was told to get me. I was afraid to go with her, I thought she was a friend of my parents."

"But you went with her?"

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "Once we got outside she told me I wasn't going to my parents, that I never had to see them again. I didn't care who she was after that. She was saving me."

Buffy wiped some tears off Faith's cheek and ducked her head down to look at her. "The watcher's council saved you from your parents, didn't they?"

Faith nodded again. "I was fourteen when she got me and she said the council never took potentials until fifteen. She'd been told just to observe my development, but she couldn't take watching anymore so she got me. I guess she got into a lot of trouble for that."

Buffy started to rub the brunette's back again. "She cared about you."

"Yeah," Faith sniffled. "I never saw my parents again. They probably didn't even care I was gone. My watcher and I really bonded, though. It took a long time for me to trust her, but she waited, like she knew I would come around." Faith almost regained control of her emotions, but started to cry again. "I let her die," she sobbed. "I let her die and the council tried to kill me as soon as I made a mistake. Everyone either died or turned on me."

Pulling Faith into an embrace again, Buffy held her and let her cry, sobbing a little herself. She was wondering why she didn't see any of this before. She let go of Faith and held the brunette's face, making the woman look at her. "Faith, you did nothing to deserve that, any of that. But you have to see, people did care about you. Your watcher did."

"I failed her," Faith tried to pull her head away but Buffy wouldn't let her. "I couldn't save her."

"That was not your fault," Buffy replied sternly. "Faith, you and I both have learned we can't save everyone. You can only do so much. There's no way she would ever blame you for what happened, not if she cared as much as she obviously did."

Faith didn't respond, just sniffled a little. She rested her head on Buffy's shoulder and tried to settle down, silently cursing herself she'd let her emotions get the better of her. Buffy held onto her a minute before guiding Faith to lay on the bed and got her under the covers. The brunette didn't object, the toll of the conversation combined with the bus trip had completely drained her.

Buffy wiped the rest of the tears off the young slayer's face and smiled down at her. She got off the bed and turned off the lights, checking the door along the way to make sure it was locked. Looking back to the beds, she could tell Faith was already starting to fall asleep, curled up and laying on her side. Buffy felt a tear roll down her cheek as she thought about what Faith has just told her.

She wanted to talk more, to know more about the brunette but she knew Faith definitely needed the break. What she had just confessed to Buffy had already taken a lot out of her. She wanted to make sure Faith was all right, though. The young woman seemed so fragile now.

Buffy walked past her bed to Faith's and laid down next to the brunette under the covers. She heard Faith was still sobbing silently and before she realized what she was doing, she pulled the younger slayer to her and wrapped her arms around her, putting her head on Faith's shoulder.

"Just sleep, Faith. I'm right here," she whispered into her ear. "No one's gonna hurt you ever again."

******

Morning came faster than Faith ever thought possible. The last thing she remembered was Buffy having her lie down then nothing. She opened her eyes to see light flowing into the room and felt someone next to her. It took her a moment to realize where she was and who exactly was with her. Buffy's arms were wrapped around her as the blonde spooned her from behind.

Faith turned to see Buffy was already awake. The older slayer loosened her hold on the brunette as she felt Faith wake up and turn. She smiled.

"Hey, did you sleep well?" Buffy asked sweetly. She knew Faith had been still most of the night because she watched her for a good portion of it, but she hoped last night's talk hadn't sparked any nightmares.

"Yeah," Faith rubbed her face and looked at Buffy, confused. "B, why are you in my bed?"

Buffy tucked a strand of Faith's hair behind her ear as she looked at her. "You were crying in your sleep. I wanted to make sure you were okay, make you feel safe," she yawned.

"Thanks," Faith said softly and gave Buffy a concerned look. "You look real tired. Did you sleep at all?"

"A little," Buffy yawned again. "I watched you for most of the night, making sure you didn't have any nightmares."

"I always have nightmares," Faith said simply, "I've just gotten used to them."

"And last night?"

"Yeah," the brunette confirmed sadly.

Buffy pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Faith," she whispered in her ear. "I shouldn't have asked you to bring up all that shit again. I'm so sorry you've been hurt so much and that I was a part of it."

Faith felt tears begin to fall once again as she whispered back, "It's not your fault, B. I have nightmares almost every night. You didn't do anything to cause it." She shifted and moved away from Buffy so she could face her. "I told you all that because you wanted to know about me." She shrugged. "That's me."

The young slayer wiped a couple tears on Buffy's cheek and smiled. "I'm gonna shower and you should try to actually sleep. Then maybe we can order room service again." She chuckled. "I love doing that."

"Okay," Buffy yawned again. "I'll just rest my eyes for a minute."

"Sure, B," Faith grinned, "you do that." She grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom.

When she got out Buffy was fast asleep on her bed. Faith looked to Buffy's own bed and realized for the first time that it hadn't been slept in at all. The blonde had held her the entire night. Faith didn't know what it think about that and decided not to think about it at all right now. They were finally making progress and Faith didn't want to think about anything other than that.

She walked over to Buffy and relaxed on the bed next to her, her head resting against the headboard. She decided to wait until Buffy woke up before ordering any food. She moved Buffy closer to her and put the blonde's head so it rested on her lap. Running her fingers through Buffy's long hair, she watched her as she slept, just like Buffy had done for her.

******

A couple hours later Buffy woke up and saw Faith looking down at her. She raised an eyebrow up at the brunette.

"Just returning the favor," Faith smiled at her. "Are you hungry? 'Cause I'm starving but I wanted to wait until you woke up before ordering anything."

Buffy sat up and leaned against the headboard, mirroring Faith's position. "I could eat," she smiled back and looked over at the clock. "God, it's still early. What time did you wake up anyway?"

"Early," Faith said simply. "We went to bed kinda early last night."

"Yeah," Buffy breathed out. "Well, you order some breakfast while I shower."

"What do you want?"

Buffy leaned on the doorframe of the bathroom. "You did pretty well choosing last night. I trust you." She disappeared into the bathroom leaving Faith grinning on the bed.

******

The pair ate breakfast in relative silence, not wanting to bring up anything too serious for the time being. Buffy was trying to think of what to ask Faith that wouldn't get her as upset as last night and Faith was trying to figure out what Buffy would ask next.

Buffy cleared her throat once they were done eating. "You know, I've been thinking."

Faith thought of a few sarcastic remarks to say, but decided against it. "What are you thinking?" was all she could come up with while stacking the empty plates and shoving them off to the side of the table.

"Well," Buffy said uneasily, "since you're the one whose been doing all the talking, you should take a break. How 'bout you ask me a question?"

Faith let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't ready to talk more about her crappy childhood and was a little embarrassed about breaking down the night before. "Sure," Faith said slowly, thinking about what to ask. "What were you like before you became a slayer?"

Buffy laughed. "You know, becoming a slayer was probably one of the best things that happened to me, for my personality anyway," she got up from the table and moved to her bed, relaxing and stretching out on it. "I was your basic conceited bitch in L.A."

"No offense," Faith smirked at her, "but you were pretty stiff and uppity back in Sunnydale. Was that a slayer deal?"

"Wow, how could I ever take offense to that?" Buffy remarked sarcastically and narrowed her eyes at Faith then chuckled. "No, that was in L.A., too. That just took longer to get rid of than some of my other excellent personality traits." She stopped for a minute, trying to think of the best way to describe herself back then. "I was like Cordelia before she even contemplated thinking of others. I had the gang of minions, the holier-than-thou attitude, I even won May queen."

"And I'm glad I didn't know you back then," Faith said to her as she walked over and sat on the edge of her own bed, facing Buffy, "'cause I would have definitely beat you down without a second thought." The blonde made a face and Faith laughed. "You had money, didn't you?"

"We were... comfortable," Buffy said slowly, thinking about what she should say. "I really didn't pay attention to it. I just knew if I asked my dad for money he would give it to me. I was kinda spoiled."

"Kinda?" Faith looked at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, well, I knew how to get what I wanted: ask Dad. That was until my parents starting fighting, around the same time I found out about the slayer thing."

Faith leaned forward, hands resting on her knees. "How bad was it?"

"It's wasn't that bad at first," Buffy thought back. "There would be a fight here and there, some of them got nasty but they were few and far between." She sighed. "Then the slaying thing happened. I met my first watcher, Merrick, and started to train with him. Of course, I couldn't tell my parents so they just thought I was being a delinquent."

Faith furrowed her brow. "Wait a minute, I thought Giles was your only watcher."

Buffy shook her head. "No, Merrick was my watcher in L.A." She looked down on her hands. "He was killed by a vampire and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I hadn't trained that much and even though we have natural super-strength, I wasn't used to it yet." She sighed and whispered, "I just couldn't stop it."

"Wow, B," Faith said, almost in awe, "I guess we have more in common than I thought."

"Yeah," the blonde drew out in one long sigh. She shook her head to clear it. "Anyway, I was fighting vampires but my parents just thought I was getting into fights, skipping school and who knows what else they thought I was doing. They fought all the time about what was wrong with me, what they should do with me. They thought I couldn't hear them, but I could."

"Parents can be a little dense sometimes," Faith put in. "At least they tried to hide it."

Buffy nodded, looking down and not at Faith. "Well, that stopped when I burned down the school gym." Faith starting laughing, only stopping when Buffy scowled at her. "I was fighting a gang of vamps and there was too many of them. That seemed like the best solution, but of course I couldn't tell my parents that. I got expelled, my parents battled over what to do with me and all of a sudden, my mom said they were getting a divorce and we were moving to Sunnydale. 'A fresh start' she said." She laughed. "I guess she didn't know what she was setting herself up for there."

Faith grinned and nodded, agreeing. "I guess you've been through a lot, too." She took a breath. "I'm sorry about your watcher."

"I'm sorry about yours," Buffy looked her in the eye and gave her a small smile. "See, we do have a lot in common."

"I wouldn't go that far, B," Faith kind of grunted out as a response.

The pair remained silent for a few minutes, processing what they have talked about. Buffy finally spoke up. "I know you've told me a little of the bad," Faith tried to speak up but Buffy stopped her, "no, don't say anything. I'm not gonna ask you any more of the bad stuff in your childhood." She paused. "But I am glad you trusted me enough to tell me. No, I wanted to ask you about your happiest memories from here, Boston."

Faith thought, trying to think of happier times in her childhood. After a few minutes went by without so much as a word from the brunette, Buffy tried to help her out, maybe jog her memory.

"How 'bout grandparents?" she tried.

Faith shook her head. "If I had any, I never met them."

"No extended family at all?"

She shook her head again. "Never met anyone, B. It was like everyone knew to stay away."

"Friends at school?"

"I kinda kept to myself. I didn't want anyone to know what was going on at home," Faith looked down, a frown on her face.

Buffy frowned as well, trying to think of something. She got a look of determination on her face and said, "Okay, Faith, what about your watcher?"

Faith instantly brightened. "Yeah, I had a lotta good times with my watcher. She's the only one who ever cared about me, looked out for me."

"That's not true, Faith," Buffy countered. "I cared about you, still do. I was just really stupid about showing it."

The young slayer chose to ignore the last comment, not knowing how to respond to it or what exactly the blonde had meant. "Yeah, well, she always knew the right thing to say to me to make sure I did what I was supposed to and not be 'an insufferable adolescent'."

"British, huh?" Buffy smirked.

"Yep," Faith nodded. "We got along great. I don't think watchers were supposed to be as involved with slayers as much as ours were, but she was all I had. She treated me like more than just a slayer, she treated me more like a..."

"Daughter?"

"Yeah," Faith grinned and Buffy thought she hadn't ever seen her that happy. "We did, like, normal things together, besides slaying and training. She helped me get over my fear of people." She sighed. "The only time she ever got real upset with me is when I dropped out of school."

Buffy got intrigued. "Why did you drop out?"

Faith shrugged and moved to sit next to Buffy on the blonde's bed. "I had a negative attitude, still do really. I figured why bother going to school when I was gonna die in a couple years anyway. My watcher hated that, but the council overruled her. They figured this way I could train longer and be more focused on slaying. Apparently, they had this other one who didn't like to listen to instructions," she completed with a laugh and a grin.

"Very funny," Buffy laughed, "but true. Little did they know you would be worse than I was with the listening."

"I listened sometimes," Faith protested, but grinned evilly at Buffy, "at least in Boston anyway." "No, I don't think she ever got over that... and a few weeks later, she was dead."

"You didn't disappoint her, Faith," Buffy said, knowing exactly what the other woman was thinking. She looked over at her and tried for eye contact, speaking softly to the now silent brunette, "if she cared as much about you as she obviously did, then she probably really did think of you as a daughter. Which means, there is no way you could have ever let her down for very long."

"Yeah," Faith said quietly, head looking down, "she's the only real mother I ever had."

"See," Buffy smiled at being right, "I bet she couldn't stay mad at you very long, could she?"

Faith looked up at Buffy and grinned. "She never could! I'd go out clubbing after slaying even though I was to report in and she'd be ticked for like five seconds before giving in. We just made a deal after awhile that I had to at least call to report that yes, I was still of the living, and that we would discuss the details in the morning."

"Clubbing, Faith? She really helped you get over your fear of people," Buffy laughed.

"What can I say, B," Faith shrugged, "I like to dance and let's face it: I'm hot. I was made to go clubbing." She stopped while Buffy laughed. When the blonde finally stopped, she continued. "Once I started really training, I knew I could beat up any guy who tried something I didn't want him to. Power has a certain self-esteem boost though it probably had the wrong effect on me."

"Maybe," Buffy said easily, "but you got over it."

"Yeah, and I only had to go to prison to do it," Faith laughed then nudged Buffy with her elbow. "This is all wrong, B. We're supposed to be talking about you, not me. I should be the one asking the questions."

"Hey, I was trying to help," Buffy responded, holding her arm, "I was trying to make you see the good things in your past. I feel bad about bringing up the bad ones."

Faith shrugged again, "Bound to come up sometime, B, and we haven't even gotten to the Sunnydale years." She shook her head. "But I'm getting off topic. We were talking about you."

"Fine," Buffy agreed, "next question."

"Can I ask you anything?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "I suppose so."

"Cool, 'cause I've wanted to ask you something for years but you always wouldn't answer," Faith said. "What was it like with Angel?"

Buffy looked at her. "It?"

Faith laughed. "I meant the whole dating a vampire thing but if you want to get detailed, I'm not gonna stop you."

Buffy leaned closer to Faith. "Well, let's see... when I met him, I didn't realize he was a vampire." Faith looked at her oddly. "My vampires sensors weren't on yet." Faith nodded. "I just thought he was this dark mysterious guy, little older maybe, but still..."

"You had the hots for him," Faith laughed.

The blonde blushed. "Yeah, I did," she sighed. "I was sixteen, okay? Here was this tall, dark and handsome guy and he tells me I'm the chosen one and wants to look out for me. Then I kissed him and he vamped out."

"Whoa," Faith said, her eyes wide, "and you didn't stake him?"

"I was shocked," Buffy responded. "I didn't see him for a while after, but when I finally did, I saw he was against vampires, too. He was good, he had a soul. So we started to work as a team, but we still had feelings for each other. I was a junior in high school before we took things to that next level."

Faith raised an eyebrow and smirked at Buffy who furrowed her brow in return. "Not that, Faith. Dating: we started dating. Well, at least as much as you can date a vampire."

"So did you know about the curse?"

"Not until after," Buffy replied.

"After the sex?"

"Yes, Faith, after the sex," Buffy scowled over at Faith.

Faith grinned at her. "Just making sure, B."

"So then he was Angelus," she paused, "whom you've met now." Faith chuckled at the remark. "I think you know the rest of it. The huge thing with Angel was everyone and everything was telling us we shouldn't be together, but we didn't feel that way. I wanted to be with him forever."

"Well, B," Faith let out a breath and looked at the other slayer, putting her hand on hers, "I think you just weren't ready to hear what other people were telling you. The thing about being a slayer is that we're supposed to be alone, fight alone. The easiest thing for you to overcome that was to date a vampire. You know, make work and personal the same."

"Wow, Faith," Buffy made no move to move her hand away from Faith's, "when the hell did you get so wise?"

"I've heard it comes with age," Faith grinned, "I guess it skipped you."

Buffy swatted her arm. "You're just full of jokes," she sighed. "It's kinda like old times, without the fighting and killing."

"Yeah," Faith moved her hand off Buffy's and swung her arm around her shoulders, "it's cool, isn't it? The Chosen Two, together again and both of them relaxed, sane and friendly to each other."

"It's nice," Buffy put her head on Faith's shoulder, "I like it." She looked over at the clock and saw it was already mid-afternoon. "Wow, look at the time. The maid hasn't even come to change the sheets."

"That's 'cause I put the do not disturb sign on the door," Faith said, leaning more into Buffy, "I thought it would be easier for us to clear the air. Besides, your bed hasn't even been slept in."