". . . so then I stopped groping her ass, lifted her off my lap, and got the hell outta there before I lost control."

Cordelia, who'd been glancing over at Faith between looking at the rows of books, literally did a double-take at that. She fully faced Faith, the look on her face a dead giveaway that she'd been paying attention, contrary to what Faith had believed.

"Wait a minute, back up," Cordelia said. "You had what could arguably be classified as a date with Buffy Summers – who you've wanted since before you even came to Sunnydale – and when she invited you into her parentless house for a night of naughty fun, you bailed?"

Faith practically grimaced at the recap. "Well . . . yeah. But not like, right away. We were making out hot and heavy on the couch for twenty minutes before things started getting more . . . yunno." She raised her eyebrows and nodded her head a little.

Cordelia seemed to understand just fine and held out her hand for Faith to stop.

"I get it, I get it. I don't need the horny details," she said. "So why did you stop it if things were headed in a direction that was obviously of the good?"

"I dunno," Faith said with a shrug. "I mean, I love sex. It's fun, and it feels good, and I'm fuckin' good at it." She ignored the way Cordelia rolled her eyes and continued, undeterred. "But it's B, yunno? I don't want it to be . . . unspecial."

Cordelia rolled her eyes yet again and focused her attention back on the bookshelf to her side.

"Dear Diary," she began in a mocking voice, "today the girl I like kissed me for the first time. It was nice but I'm not sure I'm ready yet."

Faith narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. "Fuck off, C."

She started to turn so that she could storm out but a hand around her wrist stopped her. Her gaze moved from that hand up long slender arm and stopped when she met Cordelia's eyes.

"Settle down, slayer. I didn't realize you'd gone all sensitive on me. I'll keep the mocking to a minimum."

Faith watched her warily before shaking her arm free and taking a deep breath. After a moment she nodded and Cordelia smiled, then went back to scanning the packed book shelf.

"For what it's worth, I get it," Cordelia said, not looking at Faith. "Sometimes sex is just about pleasure. Getting off. Sometimes it's about more, at least for some people. Buffy is your more. I don't understand your reasoning on why she is, but I understand the sentiment."

"Jeez," Faith began after a short pause, grimacing a little again, "don't make it out like I'm gettin' all soft, Cordy. Just because I didn't fuck B on our first date don't mean shit. I just think she deserves somethin' more than a quick roll in the hay while her Ma's away."

"So poetic," Cordelia said mockingly but smiled and winked at Faith to let her know she was joking around. "Well what happened when you guys slayed the last two nights?"

Faith shrugged and started picking the ID sticker off the spine of a book. "More kissing, more groping. A lot more. Thought I was gonna burst, but Joyce came back a day early and no way was I gonna do B in a cemetery. Didn't get a chance to see her last night. There was some kind of demon killing people in Salinas so Giles took her on a little slay trip. They ain't coming back ‘til tomorrow and I'm stuck on solo patrol."

"Well what about your place?" Cordelia asked, her brow furrowed. "Why didn't you just take her there?"

"Ain't exactly any better than a cemetery."

"You've taken dozens of people there," Cordelia said, frustrated. When Faith just glared at her, Cordelia continued. "Right, Buffy. She's too pristine for your motel but I have to settle for a dressing room."

"Like you minded. You practically live in those kind of shops," Faith replied with a lascivious grin.

Cordelia shook her head and changed the subject back to something a little bit more neutral. "Wait, if Giles and Buffy are gone, who's running the library?"

"Mary Poppins over there," Faith nodded over Cordelia's shoulder.

Cordelia spun around to find Wesley Wyndham Pryce sitting back in Giles' office, clearly pretending that it was his own. He seemed oblivious to their presence and sat back in Giles' chair, kicking his legs up on the desk. When he knocked over a mug of tea and started clumsily fumbling around, Cordelia lost interest and turned back to the book shelves.

"You know," she said after a moment, her voice conspiratorially low yet nonchalant, "Princess Di over there is so wrapped up in what he's doing that he probably wouldn't even notice if you weren't here." Faith raised an eyebrow in confusion so Cordelia continued. "Sunnydale is a marginally big place. Even if he were to look for you all night, he might not find you."

"And your point is?" Faith asked slowly, frowning.

Cordelia sighed and dug into her purse, then handed over her car keys to a still oblivious Faith.

"You are so lucky I'm tolerant of your brainfarts," she said. "Take my car and very carefully drive to Salinas. Do not get pulled over; if you do, I don't know you. Do your slay thing. Sweep Buffy off her feet. Take her to the very nice hotel Giles most likely has them holed up in. Get laid so that our conversations can start focusing on me again and not on your sexual exploits. Understand now, hotstuff?"

Faith's frown slowly transformed into a huge grin. She grabbed the keys from Cordelia's hand and started to run out of the library but stopped a few steps away and ran back, planting a quick, hard kiss on Cordelia's lips. Cordelia's hands were on her shoulders within a second, eagerly pushing her away.

"Neanderthal! People could see us in here!" Cordelia chastised, trying hard to hide her smirk.

Faith's grin didn't waver though as she took off again and headed toward the exit, the keys jangling quietly in her hand. "I won't forget this, C. I owe you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Add it to your tab," she heard Cordelia call after her but nothing more than that as the double doors closed behind her.

The drive to Salinas didn't take Faith very long, especially with how fast she was driving. Cordelia had said not to get pulled over but she'd never said specifically not to speed. It was a very fine line she was walking – or driving – but she'd made it the entire way without passing even a single cop.

Her plan came to a screeching halt when she'd reached the city and realized that she had no idea where to even begin looking for Buffy. There were too many hotels and bed and breakfasts to check out, especially if the front desks wouldn't give her any info. Deciding to try another avenue, she went to a convenience store and bought a newspaper. She scanned the headlines and found exactly what she was looking for: a series of unsolved attacks had occurred near a local college campus. There were two hotels in the vicinity of the campus and a cemetery within walking distance.

That was where she needed to be.

She'd checked out both of the hotels but, as she'd suspected, the front desk clerks hadn't given her any information. Not even her charm had worked which was something new for Faith. It depressed her for about five minutes, but then hunger overrode depression and she found a restaurant to get a quick bite. When she was done eating, she left Cordelia's car in the hotel parking lot and set off on foot, taking in the sights and sounds on her way to the cemetery.

As dusk began to fall, she felt the slayer inside of her start to stretch and writhe. She waited for the familiar tingling at the back of her neck to start, a sure sign that either a vamp or Buffy was nearby. It took a while, but sure enough the tingles started and she continued walking in the direction she'd been headed in, feeling them grow stronger with every step.

The sound of a commotion not too far ahead of her put her on full alert. Instead of pausing and thinking it over – she'd never been one to stop and think – she charged in full force and practically stumbled onto no less than six Cardil Beasts. They were seven feet tall and thick like tree trunks, and they were completely surrounding Buffy. Giles had apparently tried to help out and was now resting, dazed, against a nearby headstone.

Faith jumped right into the fray and tackled the beast that was nearest Buffy. It writhed beneath her and tried to get up but its body was large and cumbersome and with her added weight on its back, it was really having a difficult time.

"Faith?" Buffy yelled, obviously shocked to see her there.

Faith pulled a long knife from her boot and drove it into the beasts back through its tough hide, keeping it buried in to the hilt until the beast stilled beneath her.

"'Sup, B?" she jumped off the beast's back and charged for the next closest one who looked like he'd been about to turn around and run away.

"What are you doing here?"

"What, you thought I'd let you have all the fun?"

"Faith!" Buffy yelled again, wanting a more direct answer. Her voice came out in a grunt at the end as a beast, having taken a page from Faith's book, charged at her and knocked her onto the ground. The only thing that kept her from being crushed under its weight was her extended arms which were starting to buckle under pressure.

Faith dispatched the foe she was fighting and hopped up on the beast that had pinned Buffy, making Buffy grunt out yet again as she struggled to hold them up. She slammed the blade into the beast's back and jumped off to the side, then pulled it off quickly to make sure Buffy was okay. Buffy looked up at her with appreciation which quickly turned into skepticism.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you, but Giles is going to have an antelope when he realizes that you're here and not a figment that's a result of his head injury." Faith offered her a hand up and Buffy took it, her eyes never leaving Faith. "So what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you," Faith said with a shrug.

The tiniest of smiles tugged at Buffy's lips but she was quickly distracted by another beast slamming into her side. She stumbled into Faith and they fell to the ground together, Buffy coming to rest on top of Faith.

"Oh, I am so going to kill that thing. Hard," Buffy grunted, but Faith's hands on her lower back stopped her from leaping up as quickly as she would have liked.

"I dunno. I'm not exactly hatin' ya in this position," Faith said.

Buffy rolled her eyes and crawled off of Faith, then immediately started attacking the beast that was looming next to them. "I throw myself at her for two days straight," she began, grunting with the effort of her punches, "one of those days conveniently with an empty house, and now she decides that she wants to get wriggly in the middle of a cemetery while we're fighting you guys!"

"Hey!" Faith defended lamely as she was busy wrestling with another beast. "It wasn't that I didn't want to. Trust me, there was a whole lotta want goin' on."

"Then why didn't you . . . you know?"

"Because I didn't want ya to think that I'm only after what's in your pants!" Faith yelled as she pushed against the beast's chest and rammed him into a huge elm, winding him and cracking the thick trunk of the tree. "You're more than that, B. And if we woulda fucked then and there, it woulda been like fucking someone ya just met. That's not you, Buffy!"

She buried the knife in the beast's chest and drove it upwards, aiming for the general area where she hoped its heart was. The beast gasped and spluttered and finally went limp a few seconds later. She let it fall to the ground and pulled the blade out, wiping it on the grass to clean it off. When she turned around, she watched as Buffy pummeled her foe expertly, obviously taking her aggression out on it.

"We've known each other for months, Faith! And why does everyone think they know me so well? I don't have some kind of a stick up my ass!" Buffy plunged her dagger into the beast's side and narrowly avoided a fist to the head as it fell to its knees, struggling. "I'm not a virgin. I've had sex before! And believe it or not, I'd like to have it with you, even if it'll be a whole new kind of experience for me. I like new experiences!"

She pulled her dagger from the beast's side and plunged it in one more time before it fell fully to the ground and lay still. When she stood up, Faith was just a few steps away from her. They gazed into one another's eyes, breathing hard and fast. Just as Faith moved to take a step forward, they heard someone clear their throat from off to the side. They looked over at the same time to see the last beast standing there, slowly backing away with its hands up in the air.

"Hey, truce," it said, giving them a nervous, fangy smile. "I'm just gonna . . ." it indicated behind itself and gave them one last smile before turning and shuffling off. It didn't get more than ten steps before the two blades were buried in its back, dropping it immediately to the ground.

Faith saw Buffy grin as the beast fell and it was completely apparent that there was some kind of witty comeback about to bubble from her pink, perfectly glossed lips. Buffy never got to say it though because Faith was on her in a second, kissing her hard and fast and holding her so close that she almost lost her breath. Faith's hands wandered down and squeezed Buffy's ass, making the girl gasp into her mouth.

"Sorry," Faith mumbled her apology against Buffy lips.

"No, it's good," Buffy mumbled back, trying her best to keep it.

The fight had no doubt brought out the H&H's and for once they weren't fighting it. As much as Faith had been holding back since their quasi-date at the carnival, she knew she didn't have to anymore because Buffy wanted this too. Wanted her too.

"I want you," Buffy whispered against her lips, her breath shaky as Faith's hands continued to move over her back and sides.

"Yeah?" Faith asked, pulling back and looking into Buffy's eyes. She licked her lips, tasting Buffy's kiss on them and wondering how exactly she'd gotten so fucking lucky to have Buffy fucking Summers say those words to her.

"Yeah," Buffy nodded. She bit her lower lip and looked up at Faith through her eyelashes.

"You gonna kick my ass when it's over? Start to hate me?" Faith started walking them slowly backwards, her hands on Buffy's sides the whole time.

Buffy shook her head, "Nope."

"You sure?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well alright then."

Suddenly Buffy's back was against a tree and Faith was kissing her again, slower and a lot more sensual this time around. Not that the fast, hard kissing wasn't sensual, but this was a toe-curling, uber-sexy kind of kiss. A kiss for the record books.

A kiss that Giles was unfortunate enough to witness from his prone position against the headstone next to them.

"Perhaps someone could tell my why my head has miraculously transformed into a tea kettle," he murmured, shaking his head gently.

Faith quickly tried to step away from Buffy but Buffy's hands were still wrapped around her and she wasn't letting go. Instead, Buffy gave Faith's lips one last peck and she walked over to Giles to help him up while Faith watched on, expecting a first class scolding from the man.

"It's just a head, Giles. You're kettle-free." She bent down and ducked under his arm so it was over her shoulders, then helped lift him to his feet. He teetered wildly and she had to dig into her slayer strength to keep him upright.

"Don't be daft. Of course it's a kettle. Can't you see my spout? It's a glorious spout."

Buffy looked to where he was pointing and laughed. "That's your nose."

Giles crossed his eyes and looked down at it, disappointed. "Yes, I suppose it is."

Without any further ado, he passed out once again but Faith was ready for it. She was standing on his other side and easily ducked under his arm in time to catch him. Buffy gave her a grateful smile and adjusted a bit better so that she could help hold him up more comfortably.

"Think we should take him to the hospital?" Faith asked.

"I think he just needs some pain killers and a nice warm bed," Buffy replied. "Hospitals ask questions, and I don't think they'll really get his whole I'm A Little Teapot routine."

"So . . . the hotel then?"

"I think that would be best. We have the rooms booked for another night anyhow."

"Right," Faith replied with a nod. They started walking slowly, carefully, making sure that he was okay every few steps. "You said rooms," she pointed out.

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "He didn't think it would be appropriate to share a room with a girl my age. Personally, I think he was just afraid that the girl at check-in would think he was some kind of giant perv."

"Yeah, probably," Faith replied. She chose her next words carefully, hesitating for a few moments before speaking again. "So it's kinda late. Kinda stupid for me to drive back to SunnyD now; won't get much of a patrol in anyhow . . ."

"Faith?" Buffy interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to stay with me tonight?"

The question, laid out there so openly and easily, almost took Faith by surprise. Almost. Instead, she grinned and picked up the pace.