You know what really sucks about not having your mother know that you're dating someone? When she wants to go on a spontaneous mother-daughter trip I can't say that I'm going to miss my girlfriend if we go.

My mom needed to go to San Diego to inspect a potential shipment for the gallery and thought we should make a long weekend of it. She said it was perfect because it wasn't like I was completely leaving Sunnydale open to vamps. Faith was still going to be here and when she talked to Giles about it he agreed.

San Diego was fun. I have to admit that. We shopped and did some sightseeing. There was only a couple afternoons where I had to go along while my mom inspected shipments and called back to the gallery to see if the people interested still wanted to buy. It was a little interesting and I got to see what my mom's been doing since we moved to Sunnydale but I also know that art is definitely not my thing. Most of the time I was beyond bored.

I only talked to Faith once while I was away and that was the day before we left to go back home. She wasn't very talkative though and if I didn't know any better I'd think she was a little mad at me. It wasn't like I intentionally ditched her for a few days or anything.

The only thing I got out of her was her work schedule so I knew that she was already at the bar when we got back to Sunnydale. That made me a little sad because all I really wanted to do was see her.

One thing I realized while I was away was that I'm falling hard for Faith. I think I might even be falling in love with her. It was a little scary when I first thought it but now it just makes me happy even if I'm not ready to voice it yet.

"Mom," I yell as I run down the stairs, "I'm going over to Faith's!"

My mom's in the living room with a small painting she kept for the house. I'm not a fan but she likes it. "Okay, honey. Have fun!"

I toss a backpack over my shoulder and start the walk to her apartment. I want to surprise her when she gets off work but I don't know what to do yet so I packed a change of clothes just in case. With Faith's mood being all weird on the phone yesterday I'm not sure what to expect so I need to be prepared.

Having a key to the apartment is awesome because then I really can surprise her. I set my bag down on the couch and take out the present I got her. Near one of the places we had to go for the gallery was a weapons shop. After some convincing my mom let me check it out while she did her thing and once I went in I saw this knife that I knew she would love. It's the perfect size for hiding in her boot, something she mentioned she wanted a couple months ago.

Surprising her with food would be cool, too, but I know how to cook about as much as Faith so instead I hang for a couple hours and then call for pizza to be delivered. It really feels like a genius plan and a good way to make up for being gone.

It would be a genius plan if the pizza hadn't shown up an hour ago and Faith is still nowhere to be seen. I'm a little hungry but I want to wait for Faith.

Finally, I hear someone at the door and Faith walks in . . . looking a little drunk. "B?"

My mouth is kind of open for a second. She didn't show because she was drinking? "I got back a few hours ago. I thought I would surprise you." I shrug and attempt to smile. "Surprise."

If it were possible to sober up in a matter of three seconds I think that's what Faith just did. The guilt on her face is pretty easy to see as she sits down across from me, too. "Shit . . . I didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow."

"So you had a drink or two after work?"

She nods. "I'm sorry, B. If I'd have known . . ." she stops to look at the pizza. "Guess it wouldn't have been a surprise then."

I know that I could make her feel worse but I don't want to. I want us to eat while I tell her about my trip then I want to give her what I got her. "No worries, Faith. Let me heat up the pizza and then I can tell you all about San Diego."

I stand to heat up a couple slices but Faith's hand on my arm stops me once I stand. When I turn to face her she leans in and kisses me without saying anything. It catches me a little off guard but I recover quickly as I smile and kiss her back.

"I was a little angry you left," Faith whispers when we break away. "I've kinda been staying late at the bar the last couple nights 'cause I wanted you here and you weren't."

"I didn't have much choice," I say quietly. "My mom thought it would be great if we made her trip for the gallery a mother-daughter road trip. It wasn't like I could say no. I mean, I haven't even told her . . ."

"About us?"

"Yeah," I say as I nod. "I missed you."

Faith smiles before closing the very short distance between us and we kiss again. She's the one who deepens it this time and pulls me as close as she can in the process. It feels so incredible that I moan into her mouth while her tongue explores every part of mine.

When we break away from each other, I can't help but grin. "Should I heat up the pizza?"

"I'm kinda heated up," Faith says and laughs quietly. "Yeah, we should eat something."

She lets me go so I can get to the microwave and when I turn away from it, waiting for the timer to go off, I notice she's noticed the box on the table. I put a little bow on it so Faith has to know it's something from San Diego.

I smile at her. "Took a while for you to notice it."

"You didn't have to bring me back anything, B."

"I was wandering while my mom was doing her art thing and thought you might like it." I take the pizza out of the microwave and set it back down on the table. "You can open it now if you want."

That makes Faith break out her dimpled grin and for the first time I can remember she ignores her food for a minute. She looks like such a kid as she carefully takes off the bow and sets it aside before opening the box the knife came in. Her mouth kind of drops open when she sees it and she runs a finger over it gently.

"Buffy . . . this is . . . really cool." She looks up at me and I think her eyes are tearing up just the slightest amount. "You actually remembered when I mentioned it? That was weeks ago."

"When you talk I listen," I say. "That's what a girlfriend does. Hell, I've always listened to what you've said."

"Yeah, but this is even how I imagined it," Faith says as she picks it up and holds it. "You're kinda the coolest girlfriend right now, you know that, right?"

I grin widely. What can I say? She just said I was cool and called me her girlfriend. "I think if you thought I was such a great girlfriend you would've called the hotel or, I don't know, would've come here after your shift so the pizza wouldn't be cold." Faith started to respond but I think I need to get one more point in. "And before you dispute anything, I called you every day and I left the number for the hotel."

Faith narrows her eyes at me. "I wanted to call ya, B. I really did but I didn't know how it would look with your mom there. I didn't think you were talking to Willow every day."

She has me there but she is forgetting something. "But my mom would've just thought it was a slaying thing. Or that's what I would have told her anyway."

"Fine," she relents, "next time I'll call, especially if you bring me back something like this."

Looking at her right now, all happy and ready to stuff her face with pizza, my heart does this little flip. I wonder if this is love but that scared me more than anything so I try to ignore it. Even though Faith makes me happier than I can ever remember being, it's still so soon and I think if I think about it I might blurt it out. Maybe I'll scare her off if I mention anything like that right now.

"You okay, B?" Faith asks and I realize I've zoned out. "I am sorry about not talking to you." She leans over and puts her hand on mine. "I'm still learning all the girlfriend stuff, I guess."

I smile. "It's okay, Faith. Just spaced out a little."

Faith only grins and winks at me before starting to eat. It's then that I remember that I was hungry, too, before Faith showed up and we started talking so I take a bite of my slice. Soon Faith's asking questions about San Diego and I'm forgetting all about everything except that I'm with her.

I open my eyes and it takes a second for me to realize I'm not in my bed at home. Nothing looks familiar and it isn't until I sit up slightly that I realize I'm in Faith's bed. And I'm alone.

My eyes adjust to the darkness and I try to look around as best I can. Even though I've stayed over at her apartment before I've never slept in her bed. Faith usually just makes sure I'm comfortable on the couch. I guess that's not what happened tonight.

The last thing I remember is after we ate the pizza and Faith showed off just how she would stash her new knife when we went on patrol we crashed on the couch and watched movies. My head was on Faith's shoulder and I must have fallen asleep.

"Faith?"

There's nothing at first and it makes me think that Faith went on patrol without me after I fell asleep. That's only for a minute though because after I say her name again I hear a groan coming for the couch. My first instinct when I hear that is to smile. Faith let me have the bed and since she wasn't sure how I would react decided to crash on the couch.

She really isn't the badass she thinks she is.

I'd be lying if I said that being in the same bed as Faith didn't make me nervous but at the same time, I trust her. I know that if I wasn't ready she wouldn't try to force the issue. She's already said as much when it's been brought up in the past.

"Faith!"

Her head appears as she sits up and looks around before turning to me. "What's wrong?"

"You don't have to sleep on the couch."

She just looks at me for a minute, like she's too asleep to form a complete thought right away. "I didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

I let out a sigh and shake my head. "Just get over here."

There's a pause, like she isn't sure that I'm serious, before she gets up and stumbles toward the bed. It's almost like a drunk walk but Faith is half asleep. She's only wearing a tank top and panties and while she's making her way I take the opportunity to kick off my own jeans. If I'm going to spend the night with Faith and she's going to be all respectful I at least want to be comfortable.

Faith collapses on the other side of the bed then moves close to me, placing an arm over my stomach as she rests slightly on hers. I snuggle in a little closer to her and feel her relax against me. That makes me relax, too. It feels so natural to be in this position with her.

"This okay with you?" Faith asks as she places her lips to my ear, kissing it lightly.

"Hmm-Mm," is all I can get out, temporarily distracted by her light kisses. She's pulling me a little closer in the process making me think that my girlfriend secretly likes to snuggle.

"Good, 'cause I really like you in my bed." She gives me another light kiss, this time on the side of my head. "This has to be the first time of many, many times."

I laugh quietly and yawn as I lean into her. "I won't say no to that."

Faith doesn't say anything to that, only gives me another light kiss before holding me close and falling asleep. I can't help but do the same.

When I wake up again it's morning and light is streaming into the apartment from the window behind the bed and the other one across the apartment. I feel so relaxed and all I can think about is that I love the feel of Faith's arms around me as I slept.

Of course, the fact she's not in bed with me right now does not make me very happy.

"Faith?"

Instead of seeing her appear from the couch, this time she pokes her head around the corner of the kitchen. It's then that I realize there's a distinct smell of bacon and eggs. And something burning.

"Just a second, B," she says and that's when I see she's got a spatula in her hand. "At a critical point here."

I can only smile and laugh, deciding to lie back down instead of helping her. I think I might just get in the way and we might start the apartment on fire if I distract her. That's not exactly something that'll be easy to explain to her landlord.

After a few minutes and a string of cursing from Faith, she finally appears and gets on the bed. She still has on what I saw her in when she climbed into bed with me last night but I notice she's not carrying any food with her. Instead she pulls me to her and gives me a sweet, light kiss while running a hand up my side, tickling me.

"Faith, stop it," I manage to giggle out as I roll around on the bed with her. "You know I'm really ticklish there."

"And that's why I think this is so fun." She gives me light kisses as I try to at least get on top so she'll top but soon we're both laughing as we make a mess of the sheets that were once wrapped around me.

Soon Faith stops tickling me but we still roll around as we laugh in between kisses. It takes a couple minutes but I finally manage to flip her and stay on top for more than a second. I look down at her and grin but when my eyes meet hers I realize something very important: we're both still only in panties from the waist down and we're kind of . . . well, close together.

Faith's eyes are so wide and I can feel just how turned on she is right now. Hell, I'm turned on right now. Our eyes stay locked for a few very long seconds before Faith sits up and kisses me with more passion than she ever has before. Her arms wrap around me tightly as she does and I respond as much as I can. It's a little hard to do though since Faith has such a strong hold on me.

We break away when we're out of breath and Faith buries her face in my neck, her hot breath hitting my skin. "You have no idea how much I want you right now."

"I think I do," I say as I lean into her. "I can feel it."

She moves away but only enough to rest her forehead against mine. "Then maybe we should eat breakfast before we do something you might regret later."

I really don't like how she worded that, like it's all on me. Part of me wants to argue the point with her but the other part knows she's right. I know that if I gave the okay we'd be naked in this bed and she'd be showing me just how much she wants me.

"Maybe going slow is overrated."

Faith kisses my lips softly. "You and I both know you don't mean that. That's why my hands are trying to be respectful."

"It's a little scary," I admit quietly. It's almost embarrassing that I'm scared of being with Faith intimately but I am. I have no experience and there's a voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me I'll never be able to please Faith the way she expects. I can hear it right now.

"Don't be scared." Faith leans in and kisses my neck a couple times. "I've wanted you for so long, B. Nothing you can do will ever be wrong in my eyes." She pauses. "That's probably not a good thing all the time."

I laugh quietly. "I'm okay with it."

When she looks at me again it feels like she wants to say something but instead she only smiles and lifts me up and off her. She gets off the bed and walks to the kitchen, grabbing to plates off the table and climbing back on the bed with me. I was right. There's scrambled eggs and bacon, parts of it looking a little burnt but most of it looks great.

"You said you've never cooked at all."

Faith grins as she bites off a piece of bacon. "Not in the last few years anyway and I wouldn't call this cooking. But it's what you learn how to when you're little and trying to use the stove. The eggs anyway. The bacon I always messed up."

I smile. "It looks pretty good today." I take a bite and grin. "So you were a little chef, huh?"

She narrows her eyes at me. "Only when I had to and that was before I was older and had better means of getting fed."

This feels like one of those memories Faith mentioned that wasn't the greatest. The look on her face is enough for me to realize that. I really want to ask a serious question about it but I'm afraid of her reaction. This morning has been so easy and carefree and I want to keep it that way.

"Sorry, but now all I can imagine is little Faith, standing on a stool in front of the stove with a little chef's hat on, looking all adorable." Faith gives me a look and I laugh. "Oh, don't be a baby. Just accept that you're adorable."

"If I wasn't worried about getting bacon all over my bed I'd make you pay for that comment."

We eat in silence for a couple minutes until our plates are mostly empty and I remember one very important thing. "My mom doesn't know where I am!"

I jump off the bed and start looking for my jeans when Faith pulls at my arm so I stop. "B, don't worry. I called her. Said you fell asleep so you'd be staying here for the night. It's not a big deal."

"I guess not."

Faith grins this sexy little grin that makes me want to spend the entire day with her, preferably with some cuddling. "Well, you're gonna have to come up with more excuses since you'll be spending more nights over here."

"I guess I will," I say as I put my arms around her. "But . . . Faith . . ."

"What?"

"I want to be honest with everyone but . . ."

She looks a little hesitant now, like she thinks she might not like what I have to say. "But what?"

"But if we tell my mom about us right now she probably won't want be to spend my nights here. She'll probably get overprotective about it." She opens her mouth to say something but I continue because I think I know what she's going to say. "I know I'm an adult and everything but I do still live there."

"Okay," Faith says as she nods. "I get you're nervous and I definitely don't want Mrs. S to stop you from spending time here. It'll be up to you when you tell her . . . as long as you do."

"That will definitely happen." I lean in and kiss her, feeling that little flutter again when I do. Once again, Faith's put me in control of our relationship.