Faith walked into her apartment and slammed the door behind her. On her way home, she'd thought about getting a drink but knew that wasn't a good idea. She'd only end up drunk and depressed and she didn't want that. When she was drunk, she might do something stupid like pick a fight or cheat on Buffy. She didn't know if she would be able to forgive herself for that and more importantly, she didn't want her girlfriend to see her messed up.

She replayed the night in her head, trying to figure out what she could have done differently but she couldn't find anything. Faith figured Willow would have argued anything and everything she would try and throw at them. She just didn't think she could win with them and didn't know that would mean with her and Buffy.

Faith had never felt this way about anyone before and didn't want to have any of Buffy's friends or her sister to ruin it for her. The only problem with that was she couldn't control any of it and she hated that lack of control. The whole night made her doubt her current situation with Buffy. It made her doubt that Buffy felt the same way she did.

She knew Buffy liked her otherwise she would have never had sex with her. The problem was, Buffy was being put in a tough situation and Faith didn't know if she would take the harder option. She still thought she would play it safe and Faith knew she was not the safe choice.

Kicking the leg of a chair out of frustration and a little anger, Faith ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She didn't want to think about everything that could go wrong and didn't want to go slaying. Instead, she just walked back to her bedroom, stripped off her clothes and crawled under the covers. She was on the edge of sleep when she heard her front door open and close. She turned toward her open bedroom door as Buffy walked through it, a duffel bag over her shoulder.

"You weren't going to wait up for me?" Buffy asked, setting her bag on the floor.

"I wasn't sure you'd show," Faith answered. Her eyes went to the duffel bag. "What's that?"

"My uniform, some clothes," Buffy explained casually. She frowned slightly. "It got a little worse after you left. I couldn't stay."

Faith sat up slightly, the covers beginning to hint how naked she was underneath. "You okay?"

Buffy shrugged. "Yeah, it'll work out."

Faith only nodded, looking down, knowing Buffy didn't want to talk about it. She lifted her head and smirked. "Come here, B."

"You're naked under there, aren't you?" Buffy asked, grinning.

"You should find out," she said, motioning for her to join her.

Buffy stripped off her clothes in a matter of moments and moved to the side of the bed. She quickly slid under the sheets and found herself instantly in Faith's arms.

Buffy rested her head on Faith's shoulder, feeling safe as Faith held her. "This was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

"I wouldn't say that," Faith replied, keeping a tight hold on her. "Maybe you just hoped for too much too soon."

"Thanks for trying." Buffy let out a sigh, showing her dissatisfaction at the outcome of the night.

Faith hugged her tighter, not liking the current attitude of Buffy's. She worked so hard to make sure Buffy was happy and now it looked as though her depression was coming back. She wanted to change that and put her lips to her ear. "I'd do it again if you asked me to. You know that, right?"

Buffy turned enough to look into her eyes. "Yeah, but I don't want you to do that. You shouldn't always be the one keeping me from getting hurt. I should be helping you."

"You do help me, B."

Buffy looked at her with wide eyes. "I do? I haven't done anything."

"You believe me when I tell you I'm trying," Faith explained. "That I'm trying to do better."

"You're not the same person that was here before," Buffy stated with as much authority as she could muster. "You've changed."

Not really wanting to talk about this particular topic anymore, Faith closed the short distance between them and pushed her lips on the other woman's. The kiss was soft and tender, nothing too passionate or intense. Buffy turned the rest of her body towards Faith so their bare bodies were flush against each other.

Buffy broke away from Faith's tempting lips after only a few seconds. As much as she was distracted by Faith's actions and her naked body pressed against hers, she wanted to make sure Faith knew it was easy to see she'd changed. She wanted so badly for Faith to believe that, especially now that she knew about the nightmares she had and that her low self esteem was so easy to see by Buffy.

"Baby, hold on a second," Buffy said, putting a hand on her cheek while keeping an arm wrapped gently around her waist.

"What's wrong?" Faith exhaled, furrowing her brow in slight confusion.

"You think I don't see what you tried to do there," Buffy said with a small smile. "You really hate talking about yourself, don't you?"

Faith smirked. "Maybe a little." She moved a hand up Buffy's back a little and rested her forehead against hers. "I'd rather talk about you, about what I wanna do to you."

She blushed in response. "You have such a way with words."

"I prefer getting some action to talking." Faith grinned, tickling Buffy's side.

Buffy giggled, moving her hand off her cheek to run it through her dark hair. "So are we like, girlfriends or something?"

"Well, I normally don't cuddle naked with friends," Faith said with a cocky grin. "I normally don't cuddle period."

"So that's a yes?"

"Of course." Faith wrapped her arms around Buffy a little tighter and rolled so she was on her back and the other woman rested on top of her. "I thought that was kinda obvious. You're a little slow sometimes, B." She winked to show she was kidding.

Buffy rested her head on her shoulder as her fingers traced her collarbone. "What's gonna happen with everyone else?"

"That's up to you," Faith responded. "They're your friends." She paused. "I'll support whatever you do." She let out a barely audible sigh, giving away what she thought Buffy might do.

Faith thought for sure if it came between her and Buffy's sister and friends, she would be tossed aside. She still didn't think Buffy thought enough of her to even think about it. She also didn't want to be the one standing between Buffy and the rest of her life.

"What do you mean by that?" Buffy asked, catching Faith's tone and sigh.

"Maybe you should try to get back to your life without me," she explained. "I don't want to be the one standing in the way of you getting your old life back."

"Maybe I don't want my old life," Buffy countered. "Maybe I want this one." She moved up so her head was level with Faith's and gave her a quick, gentle kiss. "Do you really think I'd leave you behind after everything you've done to get me on my feet again?"

"It crossed my mind once or twice," Faith admitted with a small smile.

"Well, stop it." Buffy kissed her nose. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"I would never want to get rid of you." Faith put a hand on the back of Buffy's head and pulled her down for a kiss. It started sweet and tender but quickly escalated into a more passionate one as Faith eased her tongue into Buffy's accepting mouth, sliding it against hers.

Faith kept one hand on the back of Buffy's head while she let her other hand start to wander down her body. She slid it slowly down her back to her ass, lightly massaging her skin the entire time. They broke apart only long enough for each of them to take a breath then went right back to kissing wildly.

Taking the next step, Faith spread her legs enough for Buffy to fall between them. Buffy broke away from the other woman's lips to groan out as her crotch pressed intimately against Faith's. Not missing a beat, Faith lifted her head to kiss along Buffy's neck as the Buffy pressed down on her.

Buffy shifted so she rested on one hand and the other could move freely down Faith's side. She slowly moved it down to her hip before inching back to her chest. Once she reached one of Faith's round breasts, she cupped it, feeling the nipple harden under her palm. Faith gasped out again, her lips leaving Buffy's skin, and arched into her body.

"Buffy." Faith gasped out her name, the other woman's actions not allowing her to catch her breath. "So incredible."

Buffy kissed up her neck to her chin before looking into her girlfriend's eyes. She could see such intense passion there and it nearly frightened her. No one had ever looked at her like that before. She wondered if Faith could see how she felt in her eyes, too.

Buffy could feel she was fast falling in love with Faith. The feeling scared her more than anything she could feel coming from Faith right now but she also thought if she ever did tell her how she felt, the reaction wouldn't be bad. She even had a hope that maybe the woman beneath her even felt the same way.

She decided not to say anything right now, still feeling that maybe Faith didn't feel the same, maybe she was only there to get off. Even though the other woman had already said otherwise, Buffy didn't want to take the risk. Instead, she lowered her head to kiss her lips again as she continued to lightly thrust down and move against her.

Faith tightened her hold on Buffy as they continued to kiss deeply, wanting to feel Buffy against her everywhere. She loved that Buffy was taking some initiative and she really hoped all the prior nervousness was gone as well. She hoped the other woman knew by now there was no reason to be nervous.

Buffy broke away and rested her forehead against Faith's, breathing heavily. "Is this okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Faith gasped out. She moved her hands down to her ass and pushed her down harder, letting out a quiet moan as she did. "This is so hot, you pressing against me just right." She let out a breath. "Harder, baby."

Buffy only grinned and thrust down harder, the action causing both of them to moan as their swollen clits rubbed against each other. She captured Faith's lips with her own once again, not being able to keep herself away from them nor wanting to. The feel of the other woman moaning into her mouth was reason enough to keep kissing her. She had never felt anything like it.

After a minute, they broke apart again, gasping for air. Buffy moved to suck on Faith's neck and Faith put a hand on the back of her head to keep her there. Both women were now covered in sweat, making their bodies slide across the other with ease.

"Shit, I'm already so close," Faith groaned out as Buffy quickened the pace, thrusting harder.

"Me, too, baby," Buffy moaned out, their clits colliding again. She kissed her quickly before burying her face in her neck, feeling her own orgasm begin to build.

Faith began to lift her hips up almost frantically, meeting Buffy halfway as they moved even faster still. She wanted to yell so many things right now, but held herself back. She didn't want to do anything that might cause Buffy to stop and didn't want anything she said to sound heat of the moment.

The problem was she wanted to tell Buffy how much she loved her, had always loved her, but didn't want it to sound like she was saying it just because they were fucking. She thought for sure Buffy would never believe her after if she said it now. She didn't want that. She wanted the first time she said it to be perfect.

In fact, she realized that they weren't even fucking any longer, they were making love. Faith could barely process the thought, especially now that Buffy was pressed so intimately against her, making her feel unbelievable. She couldn't think about anything else.

Buffy thrust down hard one more time and Faith screamed wildly into the room, coming hard. Buffy joined her a few short seconds later, feeling her juices flow freely, running down her thighs and dripping down onto Faith.

Both women slowed their pace against each other as they came down from their intense orgasms. Faith kept one hand placed firmly on her back while the other continued to stay on her ass, keeping her pressed close against her. She didn't want Buffy to even think of moving. Faith wanted their moment to last as long as possible.

After what seemed like an eternity, Buffy collapsed completely on top of Faith, resting her head on her shoulder. They laid there for a few minutes not moving, just enjoying being together. Buffy began to lightly kiss Faith's skin, not really knowing what to say. She didn't know if there was a right or wrong thing to say right now.

Faith spoke first. "Buffy . . . shit."

Buffy giggled. "You said my full name again."

Faith pulled Buffy level with her. "Seemed like the right time to say it."

"I like it," Buffy responded. She leaned down and softly kissed her.

"Hmm," Faith mumbled against Buffy's pouty lips. "I can't believe you're actually with me."

"Sometimes I can't either." Buffy moved off to her side slightly and nuzzled her neck.