What Comes Next?
by Kat
Rating: R
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – Sudden Realizations
POV Buffy
I woke up, quickly realizing I'm not really awake, I'm having a dream. I'm in my bedroom back in Sunnydale, I get out of bed, walk toward the window, I look out at the backyard that no longer exists. Yet another thing to be sad about. No more backyard, no more house, no more town, nowhere left to call home.
I can feel her presence immediately, if I were to turn around, I know she'll be in the doorway, motioning me to follow her. I'm fairly certain she's here for a reason, but I don't turn around, I'm not ready for her yet. I had thought I was done with all this, I had even thought that with all the new slayers she'd have been busy trying to "teach" them. A line from one of the Godfather movies drifted through my mind, 'just when I thought I was out…they pulled me back in'.
I'm reminded of the last dream I had, it was a shared dream, Faith was there, and it was the night before the big battle in Sunnydale, when I still held out hope that things could be different between us. I had sought her out, seeking solace from the only person I'd accept it from, looking for approval from the only other person worthy to give it. In that dream we were in my dorm room of all places; the sun was shining so brightly in the room, reminding us of better days. Although back then, I was the only one with the better days, I had everything then, and she had nothing. And deep down, I think a part of me liked it that way.
Flashback of the dream - the night before Sunnydale fell
I held the door open and motioned for Faith to come inside, "Come into my parlor…"
Faith raises her eyebrow at me an answers, "Said the spider to the fly?"
Do our dreams always have to be like this, in riddles and rhymes, I had hoped we could have a real conversation, I need answers and she's the only one who can give them to me. I roll my eyes and sigh, "Great… riddles…"
She smirks that trademark smirk of hers and says, "There once was a man from Nantucket whose co…"
"Uh…I think that's actually a limerick…"
She appears to ponder that for a moment, then says, "Is there a difference?" Without waiting for an answer she continues, "So, what's the what B? You know I need my sleep, it's important I look my best tomorrow in case we die and I have to offer sexual favors to get into heaven."
The image of pearly white gates and angels, and Faith propositioning St. Peter went through my mind and it made me laugh. Not the repressed laugh I've had these past few months, but a real, honest to God chuckle.
I look at her and she's smiling too, complete with dimples and everything. And right at this moment everything seems just perfect, like two old friends just sharing a laugh. But is that what we are? I'm really not too sure; lotta of things have happened between us, badness on both sides, past and present. And now she's back. And we're…what exactly? Friends? Associates? Partners? Co-workers? Something entirely different? I really have no idea, but that question is so very complicated, and it isn't why we're here.
Our smiles soon fade, reality creeping back into our minds. I turn toward the window, looking out at the campus, watching students running back and forth, making their way to wherever it was they were going, oblivious to everything. Not so oblivious now though, the First forced people to notice the strange happenings, the high death rate, and everyone left as fast as they could. Everyone gone but us, my friends, my family, and all the potentials still here. I keep hoping I'll be able to save them all, but I know that I won't be able to, not this time. I just know that this time, any victory celebration will be tainted with the memory of the people who didn't make it. A part of me hopes I'll be on the didn't make it list, cause that would be a hell of a lot easier to deal with then being on the survivors list. And I wonder if it will be permanent this time, or will my friends try to "save" me again. I turn toward Faith, which list would she want to be on?
Time continues to tick ever onward, so it's probably best to get to the reason I'm here. I'm feeling anxious about the plan, I'm not all that certain it's gonna work, and if it does, is it even the right thing to do? I mean, wasn't I forcing girls into a life that I have loathed these past 8 years? Doesn't that put me in the same league as the Watcher's Council? Am I a horrible person for leading these people, my friends and family, into battle when I know that for some of them, it will be the last thing they ever do? And how can I look them, any of them, in the eye tomorrow morning, knowing that I am potentially sending them to their deaths? And is it ok for me to feel so fucking scared, so fucking overwhelmed that all I want to do is curl up under my covers and pretend it's not happening?
I had been so sure of myself and the plan this morning and even this afternoon when I gave yet another speech to get everyone on board, but as nightfall came, and the zero hour approaches, the more unsure I've become. Everyone has told me what a great idea it is, everyone has told me how great I am for coming up with it, everyone but the one person whose opinion actually counts for something. The one person who's been through it all, who's a slayer just like me. The only other person on this planet that might have even the slightest clue as to what I'm feeling right now.
Suddenly, needing answers only she could give, I whip around fast and I think I startle her, but I just blurt out, "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"
Faith looks confused for a moment; pointing to herself she asks me, "You're asking me?"
"Well you kinda are the only one here…"
She frowns at my sarcasm, and then looks thoughtful for a moment; she blows out a long sigh. "I don't know…right or wrong, good or bad… we're out of options B. You and me, although we are quite amazing," she pauses briefly to give me a wink and a grin, then continues, "we don't stand a chance of winning this on our own. Fuck, even with all the potentials becoming slayers I'm still not sure we'll be enough to beat it. But at least it gives us a chance, a better chance then we'd have without them. And if we fail…the world will be full of slayers, and maybe they can succeed where we've failed."
"And thinking all that you're still here? Still ready to fight?"
I didn't mean for it to sound like I'm questioning her motives or that it even crossed my mind that she'd bail on us. But it doesn't seem like she took my question badly, and if she did, she didn't show it. She half-laughed, half-sighed, "Well, you know me…certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for?"
I smile slightly at her quote from Lord of the Rings, but my mind won't let it go. "So you don't think it's wrong that we're enslaving these girls…"
She quickly interrupts me, "Whoa! We aren't enslaving anyone, Buffy. All that stuff was done long before our time, nothing we can do about that now. And we aren't enslaving them; we're empowering them, giving them a chance to protect themselves, to live up to their, pardon the pun, potential. And unlike us, they won't be alone; they'll all have each other. And with there being so many, they'll have the choice we never had, to fight, or not to fight."
I think about it and like it or not, she's kinda right. We are out of options, without activating the potentials we have zero chance of doing anything tomorrow or any other day for that matter. With activating them, we still might fail, but there will be others, lots of others, to take our place.
While I was thinking, Faith made herself comfortable on my bed; she laid there on her back, idly checking out the room while twirling Mr. Gordo around.
"So…college life huh?"
"Yeah, back when I actually went to college…"
"Well at least you got to go and you did last longer than I did."
"Yeah that's true."
Ah, now this is more like the slayer dreams I'm used to, cryptic phrases that seemingly have no meaning. The last few times we shared dreams I was never sure if it was really Faith who was there with me, or if it's all just in my head. But that little mystery is solved, I know it's really her, because we are really having a conversation, but I guess since it's still a dream, not everything has to make sense. Faith didn't go to college, I know this, she knows this, but neither one of us make any attempt to dispute what was just said.
It does however make me wonder…Did Faith ever want to go to college? Was there a time in her life when that would have mattered to her? She always seemed so anti-education; I never really gave it much thought before now. I'm about to ask her about her comments, but as the minutes of silence stretch, it seems like a better plan to let it go…for now anyway.
I swear that I'm definitely going to ask her about it later, after the whole First situation is settled, if we both survive that is. It seems very important that I not forget, that maybe asking those kinds of questions will finally help us put the past behind us and come to some sort of understanding, maybe even friendship.
Although honestly, it's not friendship that I want from Faith. I want love, I want romance, I want sex, I want a long-term relationship. And those thoughts have been wigging me out for weeks, but right this second, it doesn't wig me out, it seems like it's the most natural thing. But you know, I'm not stupid, I realize this is Faith I'm talking about, she's never once said she was looking for those things. In fact she's made it clear on more than one occasion she's looking for everything BUT that. Also there's the fact that she's never once admitted to being with another woman, or wanting to be with another woman. So if I finally got up the courage to say something, would she reject me? And if she didn't reject me, would she want me for more than just one night?
All these thoughts are making me feel a little dizzy, so I sat on the edge of Willow's bed just watching her with Mr. Gordo, flip, catch, twirl, flip, catch, twirl, flip, catch, twirl…
My mind continues its wandering; the conversation with Angel the other day comes to mind. When I told him that I thought the guy thing wasn't working out for me, he immediately thought it was because I'm the slayer. I had wanted to correct him, to tell him that, no, that wasn't really the reason. The reason the guy thing wasn't working is because I really don't like guys, him included. But I didn't want to hurt his feelings, didn't want him to feel bad, or maybe I just chickened out. It's taken me a really long time to even be able to admit this to myself, and maybe I just wasn't ready to share. But regardless, the truth of the matter is, I like women. And the really strange part is that I think…I think I always have.
This realization did not come to me easily, it happened rather suddenly and completely unexpectedly. It all started at the Expresso Pump, on a Saturday about 4 months or so ago. I had been going in there for weeks, and I would tell myself it was because I was tired and needed the caffeine to keep me going. And it was a very convenient place to get said caffeine on my way to and from work. Truthfully, Starbucks was even more convenient, but Starbucks didn't have Crystal, the flirty, hot little counter girl who worked at the Expresso Pump. Everyday I'd come in and we'd chit chat about this and that, she'd compliment me, I'd compliment her, it was kinda flirty, but still rather innocent or at least it was to me.
Until this Saturday 4 months ago, when Willow and I went there together. Everything happened as it normally did, Crystal and I chatted, and flirted, and when Willow took the coffees to the table and I was paying for them, it happened. Crystal asked me if Willow was single, and I was crushed, and I thoroughly embarrassed myself in front of both of them. This caused Willow to give me the "I'm gay" speech yet again. You know the one, I'm really gay, Tara wasn't a fluke, blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, during the middle of that speech it became quite clear to me why I was so upset, why I acted like an idiot. It's because I was jealous, I wanted Crystal to ask ME out, and I'm not even sure if I actually would have gone out with her. I might have just run out of there and never gone back. But that's besides the point. The totally crazy, bizarre part of all this, the part that's had me completely freaked out ever since, Crystal was very pretty, with really dark, almost black hair, and brown eyes, and a slight Boston accent…ok, do I need to spell this out for anyone at home? Can we all say TRANSFERENCE?
Needless to say I was freaked out, for weeks I was in total denial. I even went so far as to go out on a date with Robin to try to prove to myself I wasn't gay and I most certainly wasn't gay for Faith. And then I got the phone call from Willow, guess who's at Angel's, guess who's back fighting for the good guys, guess who's willing to come back and help? I actually guessed Cordelia, and then Wesley before Willow finally sighed and said her name and asked the question I had been dreading, 'want me to bring her back with me?'
I'd been dreading that question ever since she went to jail, I always knew one day she'd be back, I just never thought one day she'd be back and I'd be in…love? Lust? Like? With her. And why do I always fall for the people that have tried to kill me? What is THAT about?
And she came back, and the first thing I did was hit her. I didn't hit her because of the past, I hit her because I had feelings for her, and I was mad and didn't know how to deal with them. I know… insane troll logic or maybe it's just 10 year old boy logic. There's a girl I like, hit her…
And just when I think I have Faith all figured out, just when I think I see a clear signal from her, a signal that says 'yeah B, I have those feelings too', she says something like 'I fucked Robin in your bed'. Ok, ok, she didn't actually say it that way, but she might as well have. So see? Mixed signals! She's the queen of mixed signals. But you know what? I've had enough of the skirting of the issue, enough of trying to decipher signals that confuse the hell out of me, I'm just gonna fucking ask her. Consequences be damned.
"Faith?"
She looks over at me "B?"
I get up and start pacing the room, "The other night…you said…you said that I don't know what you're feeling. And for the most part it's true; I haven't made much of an attempt to find out. But I'm asking now…what do you feel?"
Ok, so that's not exactly the most concise way to ask if she has feelings for me, but at least it's a start. And I think I see something in her facial expression, a deer caught in the headlights kind of look. She stands up quickly, she looks so nervous, and I have her, she has to answer me. Then she smiles that smile of hers, the one that says I know something you don't. My heart is pounding in my chest; she reaches out her hand to caress my cheek as she says, "To be continued…"
Somebody's shaking me, as a voice asks, "Buffy? Buffy, are you awake?"
Nooooooooo! Spike you fucking idiot. She was finally gonna answer me. I was finally going to get one of my questions answered. Where the hell did I put that stake?
End of Flashback
That dream should make me happy, but it doesn't…it doesn't because none of that fucking matters now. She's got everything now, there's no reason she could ever want me, I have nothing to offer her. Has Faith spoken to tattoo girl yet? Is she on her way here? Have they decided to pick up their relationship where they left off? God, why do I even care? I'm leaving and Faith can do whatever and whomever she chooses.
Her voice seems to come from all around me, "Come."
She holds out her hand to me, and I just look at it, I so don't wanna take that hand, I don't wanna be here. I've had enough of this, this whole past year has just been one thing after another and I just want it to stop. I just…I can't deal with this shit anymore. I know she's here to show me something, but nothing she ever shows me is good, and she never answers my questions. I'm always left with more questions than answers. Giles says I'm supposed to learn from her, he thinks that's why the First Slayer keeps coming back to me. The only thing I seem to be able to learn from her is that poor hygiene is nobody's friend.
If it wasn't for fucking Angel I wouldn't even be here right now. I just hope when I wake up Faith isn't there, because I just can't see her right now. I know I'm wrong for doing this to her, I know I told her I loved her and we'd be a family, but, I just…I can't. It's too overwhelming, too many things can go wrong, and I really have no idea who she is anymore. She's got all these memories back, she's had this whole life and I know nothing about it. So it's just easier to do this now, because at least I'll always know it was my decision. I just can't bear the thought of her leaving me, I don't want to hear her bullshit excuses about knowing tattoo girl all her life, that they have so much in common, that I'm silly for believing that the two of us could ever be anything to each other.
I guess I'm taking too long for Slayer Girl, because she grabs my hand and pulls me with her.
"Ok, Ok, I get the hint, I can have my mini breakdown later cause you're in a hurry. Hopefully you're rushing to get to the mall before Bath and Body Works closes."
We suddenly stop and I hear a voice, "Watch."
I look around at the large office we're in, or well I suppose this is actually a conference room in what I suspect is an office building. I know immediately we're still in LA from the bright sun shining outside and the familiar LA landscape.
Just as I'm about to ask what we're doing here, the door opens and about six guys come in all dressed in various designer suits. They seem to be having a conversation about football, but I know they are really talking about soccer when they mention Manchester. Doesn't take me but a second to realize these guys are part of the Watcher's Council. Did I mention how much I don't want to be here? Do I really need to see them planning on stealing Faith's memories, and their retarded reasons for doing it.
Just to make sure I'm right, I ask my very talkative guide, "Council?"
She answers me with a "Shhhh…."
Um, ok, would it be wrong to give her toothpaste? Or maybe offer her a mint?
She gives me a dirty look, and points to the men again, "Listen."
The door opens again and an older man comes inside, his suit is a definite Armani, I don't know much about men's suits but I can recognize that one. The suit and the way the others are reacting to him tells me he's a big shot. But something doesn't quite add up, that guy has to be the head Council guy, but it's not Quentin Travers, and I don't believe this guy is Wesley's dad, so, uh…who is he?
Again I ask my guide even though I know I'm not likely to get an answer, "What the hell is going on here? When is this?"
The Armani suit pours himself a glass of water from the urn on the table, finishes rearranging his pen and notepad in front of him. Finally he looks around at the others, his gaze comes to rest on one of them, "Ok Bates, I'm finally here, I do hope you have some good news for me."
Bates nods to one of the younger men, who clears his throat, flips around some pages in the file folder he has open in front of him. Finally he starts talking, "As you are aware, I was charged with the investigation into the death of the slayer's Watcher, Merrick Jamison-Smythe."
Suddenly I don't feel so good, I turn toward my guide, "What the…he… he was my watcher, what is this?"
She still won't answer me, I'm starting to feel a little panicky and my head is starting to pound like I'm about to get the mother of all headaches. I want to turn away but I just can't.
"We were waiting for the slayer to start her evening patrol so we could observe her behavior, when an ambulance arrived outside of the home. It seems the slayer had attempted to take her own life, and her mother found her and rang for an ambulance. The slayer was taken to the hospital and the wounds were deemed to be non-life threatening. As is customary here in the states, the hospital then called for a psychological evaluation. Through our contacts in the LA office we were able to intercept the on-call psychologist and replace him with our own Bernard Crowley. After his initial meeting with the slayer we became increasingly concerned with her willingness to discuss all matter of demons and vampires, as well as other concerns…"
Armani interrupts, "Other concerns?"
The guy looks a little embarrassed but continues, "Um…in regards to… uh… sexual orientation." He clears his throat again, "As is written in our by-laws and the slayer handbook, the slayer is prohibited from having any type of romantic relationship, especially a relationship with someone of the same gender. When the slayer made mention of her desire to pursue a relationship with another female, it became obvious that she would need some rather intensive psychological manipulations before she would be ready to continue her slaying duties. As our facilities in London are much more sophisticated than here, we recommended and were granted authorization to have the slayer removed from her home and taken to our London facility.
"At this time, our agents contacted the slayer's father, Henry Summers. We met with Mr. Summers, briefly explained that we could help his daughter find a more socially acceptable lifestyle. After some brief discussions on monetary compensation, he quickly agreed to give us custody and he and the mother signed the transfer custody agreement in full.
"There has been only one minor complication that arose in the course of this business, when the slayer was told about the transfer to London, she became highly agitated and we feared that she might become violent or try to escape. Mr. Crowley performed some minor behavioral adjustments, and he will remain with the slayer in case any additional modifications need to be made between now and the flight on Friday."
The room started spinning it seemed, or that was just because of what I'd just witnessed, I'm stunned. The pounding in my head continues and it's so bad I feel very sick to my stomach, I feel like I'm gonna throw up. I felt the tears burning down my cheeks, as the room around me changed.
It's a smaller room; inside of what I'm fairly certain is a hospital. Both my parents are in the room, the first thing I hear is my father saying, "It's done, Elizabeth is going to London, where she can get the help she needs."
I shudder at hearing him refer to me as Elizabeth, I can't believe I forgot he used to call me that, forgot how much I hated it, and how much I hated him for it. But that's my dad, no one can tell him what to do, he makes his own rules.
"Jesus Hank, her name is Buffy, everyone calls her Buffy, it's on her birth certificate for Pete's sake. I swear I don't understand why you insist on calling her Elizabeth all the time."
My dad shrugged, "Is that all you wanted to say?"
"No, it's not all. What are we doing here Hank, sending our daughter away, and for what, there are plenty of hospitals in this area that can help her. You know it's at least a ten hour flight away, which doesn't matter because they tell me we aren't allowed to visit her. They told me we won't be allowed to even speak to her on the phone for the first 90 days. This doesn't seem right to me Hank, how did you learn about this place. You know, we know nothing about these guys, how do we know they are telling the truth, they could be anybody…"
"Look, this place can help her; they'll get her thinking more clearly…"
"Oh, you mean, they'll try to make her not be gay? Do you not realize how very wrong that is…?"
"Oh so you'd be happy with a dyke for a daughter?" My father laughed bitterly, "Yeah, cause you're so liberal huh? Who was the one who got that fag teacher fired at Elizabeth's school? Wasn't me was it. Oh no, it was you, you and all of your little PTA friends. So don't you dare lecture me about how wrong I am because you don't like it any better than I do."
"That was different and you know it. And I'm not saying that I condone it, or that I even understand it…but she's our daughter Hank. And if that is who she is, then we'll deal with it. But sending her away…
He sighed, he was starting to lose his patience, "The paperwork is signed, she's going, end of discussion. I'm sorry you're upset but that's final."
He started walking toward the door, but stopped when my mom said, "Well then I'm sorry too Hank."
He turns back and looks confused, "You're sorry? For what?"
My mom doesn't say anything for a moment, like she's unsure of what to do, finally she says, "I want a divorce. And I fully intend to fight this custody transfer, you tricked me, you told me they were insurance forms. There's no way in hell I'm just going to stand by and let you send my daughter away from me."
Again my dad just shrugs, like he could care less and my mom continues, "My lawyer says, I'll get half just for showing up, and once it's out about you and your secretary, he assures me I'll get a whole lot more than that."
My dad finally loses it, he quickly crosses the room and slams my mom back against the wall, for what it's worth, she doesn't seem at all surprised by this.
And suddenly I remember why, for a moment I see flashes of him screaming and hitting my mom and sometimes me. I'd forgotten how much my dad used to terrify me, and that he'd sometimes hit my mom when they fought. I hear him whisper menacingly to her, "I'll fucking kill you first."
The door opens fast and a security guard comes inside. "I heard some noise, is everything ok in here?"
My dad doesn`t move away, "Nope, we were just…talking."
The guard ignores my dad completely, looks right at my mom and asks, "Do you need some help Ma'am?"
He slowly let go of my mom, while backing away, she turns to the guard, by the tone of her voice I can tell, she`s really scared of my dad right now. But she doesn`t ask for help, she just says, "No, I'm ok, we…we were just talking."
Thankfully, the guard nods but doesn't seem convinced that nothing is going on, so he doesn't make a move to leave.
My dad is really pissed right now, "You can go now…" The guard still doesn't move, and my dad continues, "Look pal, you heard the woman, we're just talking."
Ignoring both my dad's angry attitude and the guard, my mom says, "Look Hank, I don't want your fucking money, or the house, or the cars, or anything else you have. I just want Buffy. You give me full custody her and you can keep everything else."
My dad looks at her, still seething in anger, but I could tell he was seriously considering it. My mom slowly picks up her purse; she pulls out a business card and lays it down on the counter. "Here's my lawyers card, give him a call."
Everything started spinning, and my mind is replaying everything that happened when I was in the hospital. Things are coming so fast that I can barely follow it all. I remember what happened, I remember why I cut myself. My parents were yelling at me about setting that fire in the gym. It wasn't me, I didn't do it, the freaking vampires did, but my friends told the cops I did it. My dad was pissed about me nearly getting arrested, getting kicked out of school, about me getting bad grades, about me never doing anything right. He just kept yelling at me, screaming what was wrong with me, and I just blurted it out. I told them everything, about vampires and demons and then I told them…I told them I was gay.
There was dead silence after my little confession. When I finally got the courage to look at them. I could see that my mom was just stunned, but my dad, he had this look of utter disgust on his face. He told me that I repulsed him, that the very thought of what I had just said made him sick and for me to get out of his sight. And I left, I ran out of the house, feeling like my life was over.
I spent all night out walking around, I finally realized I had nowhere else to go, anyone that would have taken me in no longer wanted anything to do with me, so I went home.
Nobody was there, the house was empty, and I thought it was because they didn't care if I stayed or left. I hadn't realized that my mom was out looking for me, and had been looking all night. I went into the bathroom, I was just gonna take one of my mom's sleeping pills and try to get some sleep, but when I opened the medicine cabinet, a razorblade fell out and landed in the sink. I remember thinking it was like meant to be, and I can see myself now, taking a handful of my mom's sleeping pills, getting into the tub, then slicing up my arms. I woke up to my mom crying as I was being wheeled out to the ambulance.
My mind is reeling and all I can think about is how my dad doesn't love me, I disgusted him, that he gave me away to the fucking Watcher's Council. And when that didn't work, how he just gave me away so he could keep his money, the house and the cars. How fucked up is that? How much of a loser am I that my own dad couldn't even love me? I meant nothing to him, less than nothing even.
POV Faith
The first second inside the dream I realize something is wrong, this isn't what's suppose to happen. I had thought that Willow doing the spell on Buffy while she was sleeping would be easier for her to deal with. Less pain, less freaking out, but now I'm wondering if it's a big mistake.
One look at Buffy and I know she knows. I don't know how, but she knows everything now and she's devastated. She's fighting her emotions, desperately trying not to give in to them. She's never been a crier, never been the emotional type. I'm not saying she's a robot, and yes she has cried, but she always stays so tightly controlled, she never truly lets go.
I take a cautious step closer to her, she doesn't move, I'm not entirely sure she even knows I'm here. I take another step and another until I'm finally standing in front of her. She hasn't acknowledged me yet, too busy fighting herself for control. I know what I have to do, and even though I know it's gonna be bad, I still do it. I pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her, for a moment I think it might actually work, she just might let me hold her, but the moment ends and she pushes me away.
"Get away…"
"Buffy…look, just let me…"
"NO! Don't you fucking touch me…don't come near me…"
"Sweetie…baby…calm down…"
"NO! Stop it! Don't fucking call me that, not when you knew. After everything the Council did to you and you didn`t even have the decency to tell me. You don't love me…"
I take a chance, and I reach out to her and try to hug her again, "I do…I lo…"
And can we say….BIG MISTAKE. I don't even get to finish what I was gonna say because she's quite crazy now, she pushes me, then punches me hard in the face. Fuck…she really needs to stop doing that, it's getting old now. She pushes me down onto the ground, she straddles me, screaming, "Shut up! Shut the fuck up!"
After every word comes a punch, to the face, to the ribs, to anywhere she can reach on me. Thankfully not all these punches connect with me, I manage to stop a few, but enough of them land and I know I'll be sporting many bruises and a major black eye for the better part of the day tomorrow. I finally manage to grab her arms and I try to flip us so I can get on top of her and try to stop her. She struggles with me, we wrestle each other for control, until she winds up sitting up and facing away from me, I immediately scoot closer to her and wrap myself around her, pinning her arms at her side.
She fights me all the way, screaming I don't love her, I can't love her, how she hates me.
"Buffy stop it. Stop struggling. You're gonna be ok…"
"Fuck you! It's never gonna be ok…Never…You knew and you didn`t tell me!"
She struggles some more, trying desperately to get away, all the while she keeps screaming, I calmly hold her, whispering to her, telling her I love her, I've always loved her, there's nobody else in the world for me. I tell her she's gonna be alright, we're gonna be alright, I'm here for her, I'll never leave her.
Her outbursts pretty much stop, sadness engulfs her, she's crying hard, partly due to this emotional hurt she's dealing with, but also because of the physical pain of the memories coming back.
She's clutches onto me now, begging me not to leave her. As if I ever fucking could. I keep one arm wrapped firmly around her and with the other I start stroking her hair and rocking us back and forth.
After a long while she pulls away from me, her teary eyes meet mine, I'm not sure what she's gonna do, or say. I must say I'm very nervous, I don't know what's gonna happen now that everything is out in the open.
"I…I remember you…"
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - Bow Chicka Bow Bow
POV Buffy
When I woke up, Giles was in my room, he was reading a book next to my bed. The memories had finally stopped but I was still feeling very uncertain of myself and everything. Giles gave me a hug, and while he was hugging me, he leaned down and kissed the top of my head. It was so sweet and kind, and so much more than my real father has ever done for me.
We talked for a long while, about everything. He only slipped back into his Watcher role when we spoke about the dreams I've shared with Faith. He seemed quite fascinated to find out Faith and I have shared dreams since we were kids, long before we were ever slayers. He kept using words like curious, extraordinary, odd and astonishing, and how he couldn't wait to begin researching it. Funny the things people choose to get excited about, huh? To each their own I suppose.
He encouraged me to go see her as soon as I felt up to it, he said I shouldn't waste any more time. He told me life was precious and short and you never knew how much time you had left with the people you love. I immediately knew he meant Ms. Calendar, a wave of guilt washed over me because I've always felt responsible for it. And even though I didn't know, I couldn't possibly have known, I was still the one who let the monster out of his cage. In some ways I think I feel even worse than Angel does about it if that's at all possible.
For once we didn't back away from the subject. After all these years this is the first time we've ever really spoken about the things that happened back then. I tried to apologize to him but he said he didn't want an apology from me. There was no need for me to apologize, he never held me responsible for it, he told he had finally stopped holding Angel responsible for it. And after a long while, he could even see, Jenny herself played a big part in her death, had she told us what she was planning, maybe things would have been different. But now, after reading the files Wesley had sent over, all the files about me and what the Council did and tried to do, he now knows who was to blame. The Watcher's Council.
And it's true, the fucking Council trampled over all of our lives and ruined them. If the Council hadn't messed with me, I never would have slept with Angel, he never would have become Angelus and Ms. Calendar would still be alive. As soon as I had come to that conclusion, Giles said that I can't spend the rest of my life regretting the past, being afraid to live my future, and if Faith was someone I wanted and needed, I had better go and get her.
So here I am, sitting on the couch in Faith's suite, watching TV, I'm leaning up against her and she has her arm around my stomach, my hand is on top, and my fingers are intertwined with hers. I hear Rose coming back into the living room and I make an attempt to move away from Faith. But she keeps her arm firmly around me so I can't move, and she leans down and kisses me on the side of my forehead.
I feel weird being this close to Faith with her mom around, I don't know, it seems…um, I don't know, disrespectful? Maybe? I don't know, but it doesn't seem to matter cause I didn't move and Rose doesn't seem to even notice us. She's busy getting ready to go to her conference soon and believe me I'm REALLY nervous about that fact. It's not that I don't want to do stuff with Faith, I mean we practically had sex up against the door when I first got here, only to be nearly caught by Rose.
Earlier that morning
Faith opens the door, I can barely make eye contact with her, I'm looking at her but not really looking at her. I feel so completely nervous I just kinda give her a weak, "Hi."
With what I assume is a smile on her face, because I still haven't even made eye contact, "Hey!"
I start talking before I really know what to say, which we all know isn't a good thing, but I really didn't think it was going to be this freaking hard, "I, uh, I'm sorry I wasn't here, I…"
"Doesn't matter. You're here now."
I can't think of anything to add so I just nod.
Then she motions me inside and chuckles, "Why don't you come in from the entire lack of cold?"
Wow, déjà vu. Seems like we've done this before. Oh right we have, only it was her coming to me back then.
I barely step inside, Faith closes the door and turns and bumps right into me since I didn`t move far. I turn and I'm looking right into her eyes. The first thing I notice and it hits me like a sledgehammer, her eye is puffy and discolored. Then I remember, I hit her last night, I hit her a lot last night. The bruise on her face, on her wrist, and who knows where else, I did that, and I realize that I'm just like my father.
She gently lifts my chin, waits until I make eye contact, "You're not him, Buffy."
My mind is all over the place, I can`t think. She's so very close right now, she looks so completely different. Mostly because she got her hair colored, it's a lighter brown color with some blonde highlights and my God she's fucking hot.
Faith leans in and her lips touch mine. The kiss is soft and sweet and it's followed quickly by another one, by the fourth kiss her tongue slips into my mouth as she pushes me back against the door.
The kiss has gone from soft and sweet to urgent and needy, her hands are roaming over my body, coming to rest on my breasts and I decide to get into the act as well, and I slide my hands around her waist and down over her ass and I squeeze. Her ass is freaking fantastic. Her hands immediately drop from my breasts, she pulls back a little and I think maybe I did something wrong until I feel her right hand slip between my legs, as she starts kissing and sucking on my neck. She's rubbing me hard through my jeans and I can't help but moan.
Everything is feeling so freaking good right now, her hand, her body, her mouth, everything. She moves her hand up and I feel it under my shirt on my bare stomach, it makes me shiver and feel this tingling sensation rip through my body when she pops the button on my jeans and slides the zipper down. A second later her hand is on my stomach again, slipping under the elastic of my panties…
Suddenly I'm staring at the Emergency Fire Procedures sign. Huh? What the hell? Her mother comes out of the other room, "So what are you girls doing?"
Oh Shit! Her mom, Oh my god! Her mother is still here?!? Fuck. I suppose the answer she's looking for isn't, `I was just about to have sex with your daughter.'
So yeah, that was nearly a disaster. Luckily Rose hadn't been looking at us when she asked the question, I woulda been mortified if Rose had caught me trying to re-button my pants. I couldn't believe Faith was actually about to…um…anyway the point is, I was a little upset with her for putting us in that situation and I asked incredulously, "Your mother's still here?!? You didn't think that was information you should share?"
Faith looked momentarily flustered, "I…uh," she shrugged sheepishly, "I forgot?"
"You forgot? How do you forget you aren't alone? How do you forget your mother is in the very next room?"
She looked a little thoughtful and apologetic, "I don't know…I find it really hard to think whenever you're around…"
She just looked so cute standing there, looking flustered. And that was it. That was the end of it. How could I continue to be upset? It was…after all…my fault. Right?
We watched TV for a little while, had some breakfast delivered to the room. Oh yeah, genuine room service, I've never in my life have gotten room service, I have to admit it was pretty freaking awesome. While we were eating breakfast, it occurred to me just how very different we are from each other. She musta read me because she quickly stated, "I didn't grow up like this Buffy. Matter of fact, I thought we were quite poor. For the first 10 years of my life I had no idea our house had hot running water."
Her mom laughed, and assured me it wasn't that dire, Faith was just exaggerating. To which Faith rolled her eyes as her mom walked away, and Rose yelled back, "I saw that."
"You didn't see nothing."
Her mother stopped walking and turned back to Faith, "Anything. It's `you didn`t see…ANYTHING.'"
Faith shrugged, "Yeah well, you didn't see that either."
Her mother walked off shaking her head.
Anyway, back to the present. Sitting here with her I wonder, does it really matter Faith didn't grow up this way? This is how she lives now, a life including room service, and big, humongous 5 star hotels complete with pseudo celebrities in the lobby, and snotty, snooty clerks who look at you like you don't belong. I'm so out of my league here it's not even funny.
And to illustrate this point perfectly is the way Faith is dressed. She's still wearing jeans, some things don't change right? But the jeans aren't skin tight, they are slightly baggy on her and boy let me tell you, she looks incredible in them. And she's wearing a Donna Karan deep red silk shirt, which probably cost more than my entire outfit; if not my entire wardrobe at this point. Her hair is up, I can see she has diamond studs in her ears, and around her neck, is a small cross embedded with diamonds and some other type of jewels I don't even know, but one thing is for certain, it has to be worth a fortune.
Oh but don't worry, I don't have any plans on leaving her, there's no way I can do it. Not now at any rate. Not after finally remembering her. Remembering I've known Faith since I was 8 years old.
Growing up, I didn't really have a lot of friends, most of my time was spent with my cousin Celia, she was my bestest, best friend. My Aunt Karen and Uncle Paul, her parents, lived next door to us, so Celia and I were almost always together, practically since birth. We used to play in the park across the street from our house. Everything was perfect, until the end of 2nd grade, when Celia got sick. She had leukemia. Another thing the Council fucked up on me, I couldn't remember why Celia died, for a while there I actually believed some kind of invisible demon had killed her right in front of me and I couldn't stop it.
How fucking stupid is that? Anyway, she was better by 4th grade, she'd gone into remission and everyone thought it was over, everyone thought she had beaten it. But then, I'll never forget, it was at my birthday party and her nose just started bleeding and wouldn't stop and afterwards she had to go back to the hospital. So see? My birthdays have always held bad memories for me, even before I became a slayer and moved to Sunnydale.
I didn't realize it at the time, I didn't know how very sick she was, I didn't know the cancer had come back with a vengeance and nothing could be done to save her. I didn't freaking know then. I hadn't a clue. I knew when my mom took me to see her she was always so tired. But again, I never thought anything of it which is why that day we went to the hospital and everyone was crying I didn't get it. Everyone was always upset at the hospital, so I took off and went to Celia's room as I usually did. I thought she was playing with me, I had thought she was hiding under the sheet to scare me. I snuck so quietly over to the bed, intent on pulling back the sheet and scaring her, of course she still wound up scaring me because she was dead. And boy howdy did I freak the fuck out. Then again who wouldn't?
So long story even longer, I was distraught, I started having these really bad dreams. Sometimes it would be Celia, screaming out for me to help her, like she was being attacked by something. Other times I would dream of vampires and demons, sometimes they would be attacking these girls, mostly the girls were older, guess maybe those were past slayers.
And then I dreamt of this little brown-haired girl being drowned by a big ugly master vamp, THE Master, from Sunnydale. She always looked so small and helpless, and so very scared. After a few weeks, I finally figured out what to do, and I staked him, and he poofed. I helped Faith out of the water and spoke to her, telling her everything was ok, someday I'd have to fight the Master, but not to worry, I would eventually win and it would guarantee we'd meet in person.
And ever since that night, I'd have really bad dreams, followed by dreams with the little dark-haired girl. I didn't know her name, I knew she was from Massachusetts, I knew she had brothers, and she'd choose death over wearing anything pink.
So uh, where was I? If I'd have known I'd be going on so long I woulda brought some water. Heh.
It's been said, Faith and I have a history, it's a lot longer than either of us realized back in Sunnydale. Of course those dreams became something comfortable to me, she was someone I wanted to spend time with, someone I loved, in the best friend sort of way, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I got older, and those dreams changed dramatically, from nice picnics and sunshine, to hot, steamy sexual encounters. Talk about a wiggins.
Even worse was I had nobody I could talk to about it, none of my friends at the time would have understood, and well, my parents just weren't an option for obvious reasons.
Rose seems to be ready to leave; she comes over and gives Faith and I each a kiss goodbye.
Faith asks, "So you'll call when you're done, and we'll pick you up."
Rose scoffs, "You know I'm quite capable of taking care of myself…"
"Yeah, yeah Rosie, but you're still gonna call yeah?"
She huffs a little more but finally relents, "Fine, I'll call."
"Good. Then we'll see you later, have fun, good luck. It's a great paper I really like it."
And with that she left. And now we're all alone, just the two of us, and well, Spongebob Squarepants, but he doesn't count right?
It's almost comical the way we both are hitching around, both of us knowing what we want, but neither one of us want to make the first move. Perhaps we were still worried we'll reject the other, I don't know.
So here we are, hitching and moving, suddenly uncomfortable, where we had been perfectly comfortable for the past hour. Finally we come face to face; I can feel her breath on my face. Slowly our lips meet; she places these soft, gentle kisses against my lips. I move so I'm sitting on her lap, her hands slide up into my hair as her tongue flicks out and touches my lips, a second or two later she does it again, only to find my tongue there.
The kisses are still soft, but they are incredibly intense. I reach up and run my hands through her hair, as her hands slide down and around to caress my back as we kiss.
It's funny how good we are being right now, nobody is around and yet we haven't even attempted a move to second base. Which is funny because earlier we had moved past second and were well on our way to third.
We make out for a few minutes until we need to take a break, resting our foreheads against one another while we catch our breath.
She pulls away slightly and looks me in the eye, running her hands up and down my arms, "How about we move this into the bedroom?"
We could move this to Mars for all I care, as long as we get to keep doing what we're doing. I nod, and slide off her lap, she gets up and turns and holds out her hand to me. I take it and she pulls me up and into her arms and she kisses me again. Then she stops and I wonder why, she says, "One sec…"
She heads over to the door and holds up something, oh, ha ha ha, a do not disturb sign…good idea. I laugh and smile at her and she turns to open the door, and suddenly I start feeling very insecure. All this knowing what we are about to do, and the fact that I've never done it with another woman before, I'm all sorts of nervous. I'm positive Faith has done this with other women, I'm sure she's had girlfriends; she'd been `out' back in Boston so she must have. And I can't help but think what if I don't compare? What if I do something wrong?
It's a lot of pressure and I don't know, one second I'm standing by the couch, the next I launch myself at her. She's rather surprised at this turn of events, but she catches me in her arms easily, and I immediately wrap my legs around her. She stumbles backward slightly; her back hits the door, she pushes off the door as her hands slide under my ass so I don't fall.
Soft kisses are no more, I'm kissing her wildly now, I just want to get this first time over with. I know I'll be mad later, when I realize our first time came and went in a flash, but I'm just too nervous to do this slowly, not to mention I'm so turned on it almost hurts. She doesn't seem to mind, she kisses me back just as wildly, with the same amount of zest and passion. She starts walking back toward the bedroom and the closer we get the wilder I try to be. Trying desperately to lose myself in this so I won't be nervous anymore, see? `Tis a great plan.
I slide myself off of her when we reach the bed, and even though I have zero experience here I try to push her onto the bed quickly. And this woulda worked if she wasn't a slayer too. She stops us from falling onto the bed, she pulls her head back. "Hey, hey, hey, where's the fire? What's the hurry? Slooooow…," she kisses me briefly, "is better."
I'm not quite sure what she means by slow, because she immediately pulls my shirt up and over my head and off my body. She tosses it onto a chair behind her. Her hands slid around to my back again as her lips found mine again. So as not to be left all shirtless all by myself, I start tugging at hers, trying not to rip it because it really looks expensive. If it didn't look so expensive, and had I not just been told to go slow, I woulda just ripped it right off of her.
But I don't, I only manage to get two buttons undone before she quickly takes it off and throws it on top of mine. Her hands and mouth went right back to what they were doing just a second ago and now I slide my hands on her exposed skin, on her sides, and around to her back, God her skin is so smooth.
Right at this moment, I feel so comfortable with the whole being with another woman thing; there is nobody else I want to be doing this with, she`s it, there will never be another. She is going to be the last person I ever sleep with, and you know what, it's perfectly fine with me.
Her one hand is at the small of my back and her other slides up my back and I swear she just touches my bra and suddenly it's undone and discarded. I have no idea how she did it, but I'm so impressed I just hafta ask, "Where did you learn to do that?"
She smiles sexily at me, winks, "I have mad skillz."
Before I have a chance to say anything else, she dips her head down and sucks my nipple into her mouth, whatever I had been going to say, just kinda comes out like, "Aaaaahhhhh."
And it's really loud too. Like porno loud. My cheeks flush with embarrassment and I can feel and hear Faith chuckling. Before I can get mad or say anything else, she sucks rather hard and my hands are back in her hair and I'm moaning.
"Ohh Faith…"
Again with the really loud…oh my god what is wrong with me. I'm way past the point of caring now, too lost in the feeling of her mouth on me. She moves to my other breast, tongue swirling around the nipple, she bites down gently.
She moves upward trailing little kisses up to my neck. I take this opportunity to try the old one handed bra removal technique I had just witnessed. Turns out I don't have skills, mad or otherwise, and now I'm desperately trying to get the bra undone. I'm totally frustrated, pulling at this stupid bra with two hands, poor Faith is getting jostled around while I struggle with it. I'm about to say fuck it and just pull really, really hard, like slayer hard, but I don't have to, she reaches around and again single-handedly defeats the offending garment. She's such a showoff, isn`t she?
I'm more than a little mad at the bra, and embarrassed as well, but I don't care cause it's off now and I just toss it over my shoulder and all I can think is wow, when she pulls me closer and kisses me again. Our bare skin feels incredible up against each other, her breasts pushing up against mine. I pull away from her kiss, and follow her lead and lean down and put her nipple in my mouth. WOW, I can't believe I'm actually doing it, Faith lets out a little breathless groan and again I feel this tingle shoot through my body. Her hands haven't stopped working though, my pants are once again undone and she's pushing them down over my ass.
She pushes me gently onto the bed, and pulls off my pants and panties in one move, she quickly undoes her pants as well. I'm a little put off by the fact that I'm totally naked and yet she has kept her panties on. I'm about about to protest when she lays down on top of me, her one knee falls between my legs so that she's straddling my thigh, even with the panties on, I can tell she's just as turned on as I am. She leans down over me, she kisses me, I start to panic a little when she stops.
She stares into my eyes, her fingertips brush against my cheek, "God Buffy, you're so beautiful…" She looks almost confused as her eyes travel down the rest of my body, I start to feel a little self conscious. She looks like she's struggling to find the right words, and she just says, "So beautiful, and so…perfect." Her lips brush gently against mine, "I love you Buffy."
And my heart just freaking melts, is she not like the perfect fucking girl herself or what?
She kisses me softly, sweetly at first, which quickly gives way to fervent and needy. Her hand slides down over my breast, down across my stomach, and it's still going down. She touches my pussy for the very first time, I'm so freaking turned on, her finger slides up against my clit for all of two seconds and I come immediately.
Oh my God, I can't believe I just did that. She's touched me for two freaking seconds, guys last longer than I just did. I start to lose it, I'm panicking in my head, but she doesn't seem upset. She giggles into my neck and starts nibbling on my ear, her hot breath on my ear has me ready to go again in a matter of seconds.
She whispers in my ear, "I'm not done with you yet."
She slides herself down my body, planting kisses along the way, I know exactly what she's gonna do. I spread my legs open for her, embarrassment is the furthest thing from my mind, I just want her mouth on my pussy, it is my only goal at the moment. She doesn't keep me waiting either, her tongue slides over my lips, against my clit.
Her mouth feels so good on me, her tongue swirls around my clit and I just can't keep still, she grabs my hip with her one hand, trying to keep me where she wants me. I swear I'm almost ready to come again. I try desperately to hold out, but it's really hard. OMG the things this girl can do with her tongue would simply amaze you. She seems really into too, like she enjoys doing this.
I'm so wet, so turned on, so close to the edge. She must sense it too because she slides her fingers inside of me, gently starting to move them in and out, her tongue is alternating from flicking at my clit, to just circling it with her tongue. I'm making so much freaking noise, but I just can't help myself, everything she's doing is just pushing me higher and higher. Her fingers are moving incredibly fast, and I'm so freaking close, I want to tell her what to do to push me over the edge, but I don't have to because she already knows. She quickly grazes her teeth over my clit and that's it, I'm done, I`m crashing. She doesn't stop though, she keeps up her ministrations, dragging the orgasm out as long as possible before she finally stops and moves back up on the bed.
She kisses me sweetly for a few seconds, we break apart and she lays down on her side, with her head on my shoulder as I try to catch my breath, her fingers making small circles on my stomach.
Being a slayer certainly has its advantages because after only a few brief seconds of rest, I'm ready for my turn. My turn to finally get at that body of hers.
I push her gently onto her back, my arms are on either side of her shoulders and I lower myself down to kiss her. Our breasts slide against each other again, she half moans, half whimpers. And I swear to god it's the sexiest sound ever.
I move to kiss her neck, right under her ear, who knew those sex dreams would come in handy. I know she exactly what she wants, what she likes and I'm gonna make sure I give it to her. There will never be anything she wants that I won't give her.
I trail wet kisses along her collar bone, her head rolls back and her breathing becomes more labored. I finally get to do what I've been dying to do, and I take her nipple in my mouth, swirl my tongue around, bite down just slightly and she moans loudly, although not quite as loud as I did. I cannot believe I'm the loud one in this relationship.
"Ohh baby…"
While my attention wanders to her other breast, I move my hand over her other one, massaging it, squeezing it, pinching it. Her hands roam all over me, my hair my shoulders, anywhere she can touch me.
I pull back, start tugging her panties down, she lifts up and I remove them quickly. I turn back to look at her and my god she's gorgeous. If you thought Faith with clothes on was something to see, you should really see her without them.
Or..uh, not, because she's mine. And believe me, I do NOT like to share.
I go back to sucking on her tits, I could spend all day just doing that, but there's more pressing things to attend to.
I kiss her between her breasts and start moving downward, I kiss her on her stomach trying very hard to not remember the bad stuff. I keep going lower until I feel Faith stiffened up.
I look up at her, wondering what could have made her do that, she looks so serious, her forehead is all scrunched up. Finally she says, "You…you don't….you don't have to…"
I'm very confused, why wouldn't I want to? But I ask, "Do…do you not…want me to?"
She looks away, kinda nervous and says, "W-well no, I…aaahhh fuck…"
I didn't really wait for her answer, I just dipped down quickly and licked her. Hehe. I'd been a little apprehensive, which is probably why she said it, god she so sweet. In more ways than one. Wow, did I just think that?
I keep licking her, I slide my tongue over her clit and she groans her approval. She puts her hand on my head, stroking my hair, and it's giving me the tingles.
I must be doing something right cause she suddenly can't keep still, she`s moaning and breathing rapidly, "Yeah baby…."
Oh God, her voice sounds super sexy when she's turned on, deeper, more raspy. I can't believe she's nearly got me ready to go again, just from hearing her.
I slide my fingers inside of her, and it feels freaking amazing, I've never felt this close to anyone in my life. I'm not quite sure where she ends and where I begin, it`s just…incredible.
I move my fingers faster and faster, I hit the right spot cause she lets out a long moan, I make sure to keep hitting it.
"Oh god, right there baby…"
I know she`s close to finishing, so I concentrate on licking her clit. She's squirming like crazy, I can't believe it's me doing this to her.
After a few minutes she came hard and fast, and what else would you expect from Faith right? I make my way back up her body, very happy. She grabs me and kisses me hard, a few seconds later she collapsed back on the bed, breathing heavily, eyes firmly closed.
A few minutes later, she opens her eyes and looks at me, shy little half smile on her face, she's so freaking pretty. Her hair is messy, there's a strand of hair falling down by her eyes, she sits up slightly, reaches over for the cigarettes and ashtray on the nightstand. She didn't say a word as she lit up a cigarette and held it out to me. I didn`t take it, instead I put my lips on it and inhaled, no need for my own, we can share this one.
She gives me this sweet smile and says, "Wow…"
"Oh yeah…."
We both laugh slightly, she looks at me seriously for a moment and says, "Hey guess what?"
"What?"
She looks under the sheet at my naked body, then back up to my eyes and says very loudly, "You're NAKED!"
I laugh, "Hey, you are too, yunno…"
"Yeah but I'm used to me being naked."
"You're an idiot."
She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I laugh again, she`s so cute.
"Dude! Is this bed wicked comfortable or what?"
"Oh my God I know."
"We're so getting one of these for our bedroom." She pauses for a moment, "I mean…we are gonna live together right? I mean I know I didn't ask, I just assumed and…"
"Yes Faith, I'd really like that. Although that might take awhile, kinda broke, and in need of a job."
"Pffft…You don't need a job and neither do I. We already have a job…"
"Oh yeah, the slaying. I don't know what you've heard about that but it does not pay very well, actually it pays NOTHING."
She smiles at my little joke, "We don't really hafta worry about money Buffy, it's cool. I got that part covered."
"We'll live on love?"
"Um, no, I was thinking more like we'll live off my trust fund."
She smiles and it hits me, I'm dating a rich girl. I regret asking as soon as the question leaves my mouth, it's really none of my business, "Just how much is this trust fund?"
Faith doesn't seem to mind the question and answers, "Around…25, give or take."
I'm a tad confused, "25? 25 what?" I say the first number that makes any kind of sense to me. "25...thousand?"
Faith laughs, her eyes sparkling, "Um…no, baby. It's about 25… million." The number scares me a bit, actually it scares me a lot and I fall out of bed and land with a thud on the floor. My wonderful girlfriend leans over the side casually, "Is this gonna be a problem?"
To nobody in particular I say, "A problem she asks? 25 million dollars a problem?"
She laughs and shakes her head. Finally she offers me her hand and pulls me back up onto the bed.
"Seriously, you're not freaked right?"
"It'll be hard, but I think I'll manage."
"Well don't get too excited, the money comes with many, many strings attached, and almost all of those strings lead straight back to the evil dragon lady."
"The Evil Dragon Lady?"
"My grandmother."
Oh…
...to be continued...