“Damnit, Faith, stop beating him up already and stake him. I could use some help over here.” Buffy dodged her attacking Vampire as best she could, stumbling to the ground as she did so. The soggy earth from the night’s rain clinging to her pants like glue. “Faith!” She yelled. “I’m not at full strength yet, remember?”

As soon as Buffy’s voice sliced through Faith’s apparent slaying bubble, the brunette staked her foe and span, just in time to see the blonde girl get a hefty kick to the back as she struggled to untangle herself from the mess of mud and leaves on the ground.

Buffy yelped with the pain shooting down her spine as the Vampire took another swipe with his large boot. She fell in her attempt to stand despite the force of the blow, landing with a squelch face first into a puddle, just as Faith reached the attacking Vampire about to leap on what he was thinking was his meal for the night.

“Hey. . .ugly fuck, pick on someone your own size.” Faith snarled as she grabbed the Vampire by his collar, hauling him backwards as Buffy splashed, turning over in the muddy water.

The Vampire gave a grunt, about to point out the fact that Faith was far from his size no doubt, but before he got a word out, he was dust. . .all over Buffy.

“Yuck. Faith, couldn’t you have pulled him further away?” Buffy sploshed to her feet out of the puddle, covered in Vampire grime and feeling more than pissed off.

She was getting tired of not having her strength back yet after Giles had administered the council’s injection. She was feeling stronger, but had struggled for three days so far with needing Faith to bail her out of trouble whilst patrolling. She was doing her best not to let it get to her, but it was hard.

She had thought of herself as the stronger Slayer between them. The more mature one, with so much more experience and poise, but she had to concede that Faith had done a good job with protecting her, without so much as a wise crack about it.

If truth were told, Faith’s attitude had surprised her through the whole thing. Once she’d gotten back from her little walkabout, she had been fully in support of Buffy, despite the tension that had developed a little between them since their fight over Angel.

Her view on the whole thing was obvious in the way she now seemed to glare at Giles, and abstain from making Buffy feel bad about not being up to full Slayer strength and speed. Buffy fully expected ridicule from the younger girl, but it didn’t happen. Faith was far too busy making sure the Vamps didn’t chow down on her.

It made Buffy feel less self-conscious about being somewhat frail and unable to defend herself. She couldn’t feel mad or uncomfortable with Faith being her knight in shining armour when she was doing it so gallantly and without question.

The realisation made her retract her previous gripe, as she stood covered in mud and ex Vampire. “Sorry, Faith. . .I didn’t mean to. . .”

“Hey, it’s ok. Next time I’ll let one bite you, and then you can moan at me about that with your new pointy teeth showing,” Faith practically mumbled, as she tucked her stake into the back of her pants.

The flat tone caught Buffy’s attention, and she felt bad for always getting on the younger girl’s case. It wasn’t Faith’s fault she was in the predicament she was, but she had done her fair share of grumbling about it to the brunette, even with Faith holding back on rising to the bait.

She felt bad that she had been less than nice to Faith, right from the start. It wasn’t that she had anything against the girl really; it was just more of a shock to have her there, sharing her destiny. . .sharing the load.

Buffy practically felt the penny drop as she finally got that Faith wasn’t there to make her life harder, even if at times it felt that way. She was there to help out, and because she had nobody else to turn to but her.

Brushing her now dirty hands down her sodden coat, Buffy looked at the younger girl as she walked away a few steps, glancing around the cemetery, looking everywhere but at the blonde girl.

Buffy couldn’t blame Faith for having less than warm fuzzy feelings towards her after the way she’d treated her, but she had been there for her, keeping Buffy safe on way more than a few occasions recently.

And Buffy realized that she would do the same for Faith, if their positions were reversed. She would do her best to protect the other girl, to keep her safe. To keep her from harm, more than she felt she would for anybody else she had known for such a short time. She felt it within herself. The sensation of wanting to protect her even if Faith rejected her help, like she knew she would, or even if Faith didn’t need her help.

She tried to put it down to their Slayer bond, as they really hadn’t bonded as friends yet, but Buffy wasn’t sure how deep that went, or if it went at all, as she had never really felt anything for Kendra.

Watching the feisty brunette as she ran a hand through her unruly locks, her dark eyes scanning the night for danger, Buffy found herself becoming entranced.

She had avoided staring too much at Faith since her arrival, as she didn’t want the younger girl to misinterpret her interest, knowing the sarcastic comments it would stir, but right now, she couldn’t keep her eyes from her. Faith was in no doubt a very attractive girl, but there was something about her that seemed to demand that people fall over their tongues when she walked into a room. An air. A manner, that drew people in. And Buffy felt drawn.

She didn’t think that she was attracted to Faith because, well, she wasn’t like that. But now that she had seen the less sarcastic and brusque side to Faith, she couldn’t help but feel more for her than maybe just their Slayer bond allowed for. She was really beginning to like Faith, despite the walls she had up around herself.

In fact, Buffy very much wanted to break through some of those walls so she could see the real Faith, the girl inside the casing of tight clothes and too much dark makeup. She wanted to see her stripped. . .Buffy frowned slightly and shook her head before continuing with her thoughts.

Stripped of her defences.

That was it. She wanted to know the real Faith, and over the past few days, with Faith being so willing to protect her, she felt she was beginning to get to know the real Faith. It made her smile.

So she stood staring at Faith with what must have been a goofy grin on her lips as the dark girl turned to face her, her expressive eyebrow raised in question.

“You ok, B? You err, look wicked spazzed out there.” Faith began to walk back towards Buffy, her hips swaying slightly as she strolled with effortless sex appeal towards the older girl.

Buffy found herself blushing, but wasn’t aware of quite why she was blushing. Lifting a hand to fiddle with a stray strand of her blonde hair that had worked loose from her ponytail, she chuckled nervously, a strange feeling washing over her that she couldn’t place.

“I’m just. . .tired I guess, and wet.” Buffy blushed even more, her brain backtracking quickly before Faith picked up on the slight uncertainty in her voice at why saying she was wet with Faith in the same vicinity as her, had made her stomach flip like a gymnast. “From the rain, I mean. Muddy, and. . .” Buffy stalled on the word, with her stomach making it clear it was about to flop back again.

“Wet,” Faith stated huskily, finishing Buffy‘s sentence. Her Boston drawl wrapping itself around the word as she breathed it out into the quiet cemetery.

She had a slight grin playing on her dark red lips. Her eyes shining in the moonlight, deep and dangerous and gazing far into Buffy, who was unable to move from the spot that she was busy glued to as her entire body began to tingle in a way she really wasn’t familiar with.

Buffy took a breath and tried to speak, but there was nothing she could think of to say. All that filled her head was how stunning the younger girl looked bathed in moonlight, her lush hair falling in waves about her striking features as she slowly swept her dusky brown eyes over Buffy.

Then Faith stepped a little closer to Buffy, her footing sure in the squelch of the mud as she parted her full lips to lick them, taking her time to dip her soft pink tongue into the small cleft in the centre of her lower lip.

Buffy followed Faith’s tongue with great interest with her eyes, wondering why the hell she felt the extreme urge to slip her own tongue over it. To feel its warm wetness in her mouth.

She was freaking herself out suddenly with thoughts she was sure she hadn’t had before. Her brain on overload as the brunette stood before her, her slight height advantage giving her even more of a knight in shining leather look that made Buffy swallow hard, and panic between wanting to move closer to Faith, into her personal space, and leap backwards, away from whatever the hell was busy going on that she didn’t understand.

Buffy felt like she had lost complete control of what she was thinking and feeling, and she wanted it back. Wanted to be sure that there was no way in hell Faith was actually causing her to feel like she. . .wanted her or something.

It must be the Slayer bond, and the post slayage hornies, Buffy mused, unable to find a clear and understandable explanation as to why she felt so compelled to reach out and brush her fingertips over the perfect arch of Faith’s slightly cocked eyebrow.

“Umm. . .” Buffy faltered, completely unaware why Faith wasn’t being her usual flighty self right now instead of just standing close to her, looking almost seductively at her. “I should get home. Mom’ll probably be worried.” Buffy chuckled, feeling uncommonly nervous around the dark girl.

Faith looked a little disappointed at Buffy‘s retreat from whatever the situation was, upset even, much to Buffy’s surprise, but her mask quickly slid back over her face, her smirk in place as she gestured grandly for Buffy to walk past her towards the gates.

“After you, princess.” Faith grinned, her athletic body poised in it’s confine of leather and the tight tank top showing far more cleavage than was probably legal, as she waited for Buffy to step past her.

But as Buffy stepped forwards, she felt a sharp pain in her back where the heavy booted Vampire had kicked her. She winced and instantly bent forwards, her hand flying to her lower back.

“Shit,” she hissed, feeling like her entire spine had been ripped out and replaced upside down.

Faith was by her side in an instant, her hands touching gently as she steadied the smaller girl as she swayed. “Careful, B, that Vamp gave you some major fucking damage possibilities.” She encouraged Buffy to lean against her as she stood; wrapping an arm around Buffy’s back, but not squeezing too hard.

“Thanks.” Buffy bit down the pain, taking a deep breath, but regretting doing so straight away as she drowned in the scent of the other girl.

Unnerved by the sensation of smelling pure Faith, hot skin and tight leather, Buffy tried to push herself away a little, but again the pain in her back had her groaning with its sharp reminder that she wasn’t in Slayer shape. Looking down at the state of herself, muddy and soaked, she couldn’t get away from the fact she wasn’t in Slayer shape.

“Here, lean on me,” Faith suggested, pulling Buffy’s left arm around her as she stood on that side, moving her own arm up to the shorter girl’s upper back, once again pulling her a little closer against her dark leather jacket.

Buffy really had no choice but to accept the help. She was in pain, and she wanted to get home and warm. She had been feeling so low after being betrayed by Giles, and so vulnerable without the gifts of her calling, and she couldn’t deny that having Faith take charge a little, take more responsibility once again because of her weakened state, was nice.

Even though she really didn’t know in which capacity it was nice, Buffy couldn’t ignore the fact that it was. . .nice.

Both Slayers began making their way slowly towards the cemetery gates, Buffy leaning more and more into Faith as they went. She was really beginning to feel the cold from her wet coat now, and the warmth of the other girl was more enticing than she dared care to admit.

“You’re really in pain there huh, girlfriend.” It wasn’t a question as the slow and wincing steps of the blonde girl clearly indicated that Faith was right.

There was no sign of mocking in Faith’s tone however, so Buffy really didn’t feel the need to shrug off the younger girl’s help in her usual stubborn manner. Instead, she just nodded and wrapped her arm a little tighter around the slim waist of the other Slayer.

She really had never thought of Faith as the kind of person to be comfortable with being so close to another in a way that wasn’t sexual, or inferring some kind of intimate act. They had never hugged, or even done so much as shake hands. All their contact had been during sparring, or fighting, but Faith didn’t seem to mind Buffy being practically buried into the side of her at all.

Buffy glanced up at Faith’s face from her slightly crouched position, as they walked through the battered iron gates, her green eyes floating over soft skin and small crevices where cute dimples often showed.

She frowned to herself slightly, trying to decipher at what point she had come to think of anything about Faith as cute. She really couldn’t fool herself into thinking she hadn’t thought that the brunette had cute dimples right from the start though. Or that she had thought that Faith was probably the hottest girl she’d ever met.

The small Slayer stumbled a little as she was caught gazing up at Faith by her, her brown eyes snagging hers as she smiled a little, the dimples Buffy had unwittingly come to like so much sneaking up her cheeks, enhancing her natural beauty under all the makeup.

Buffy found herself blushing again, and it was clearly a lot more obvious with her close proximity to Faith. The dark girl looked a tad puzzled but covered it well as she quickly looked away, the smile still gracing her lips.

Buffy wasn’t sure what the hell was going on between them, but there was something. Something she really didn’t know if she could begin to grasp the meaning of. She was sure. . .was positive that she didn’t feel anything for Faith other than their Slayer bond. That was why she felt comfortable being so close to her. That explained the tingles she felt.

She didn’t think Faith was attractive because she was attracted to her. She just had taste.

Once again, Buffy had to question the words in her mind that she was choosing to use when it came to Faith. Thankfully, she wasn’t given any time to come up with any conclusions as to why she was acting and thinking the way she suddenly, or not so suddenly she realized, was thinking.

“Hey. . .you’re shiverin, B. You need to get outta your wet stuff,” Faith pointed out, as she turned more towards the blonde girl, her expression a picture of concern that Buffy was fairly sure she’d never seen directed at her quite so blatantly from the other girl.

“I do feel kinda cold.” Buffy’s teeth had begun to chatter slightly as she lost some of the warmth from Faith with her turning from her side a little. She missed the contact immediately and was again unsure quite what that meant.

The slight sensation she always got around the dark girl was undeniably a nice feeling. One she couldn’t recall getting from Kendra. One she now wanted to immerse herself in for some reason.

Without asking Faith first, Buffy once again snuggled herself closer to the younger girl, a coy smile laying claim to her lips as she felt Faith hold her tight against her once again as the night grew colder. She shivered at the new flow of tingles coursing through her, and had trouble just putting it down to the Slayer thing, as much as she tried.

“Damn, B, you’d better come to mine and get a little warmer first before going home. The motel’s just down the street, if you can stand to be in the crap hole,” Faith said, her lips close to Buffy’s forehead, the heat of her breath warming Buffy up almost as much as the strong arm wrapped around her.

As the small Slayer felt the words drift into her mind, she also felt herself warm up in far more places than she thought necessary. But Faith asking her to go to her motel room, when she was feeling kind of confused about the way she was thinking about the dark Slayer, had her heating up enough to almost dry her clothes from the inside out.

Whatever it was she was feeling for Faith, it was growing, and it was forcing Buffy to take notice, regardless of how much she wanted to suppress anything that didn’t sit well with her normal view of the world and where she fit in it, as a straight high school student with ‘kind of a boyfriend’.

“B?” Faith’s low and sultry voice rolled over Buffy, requiring her to lift her head a little from its desire to creep down into the soft looking cleavage of the other girl.

“Yeah. . .take me to yours, Faith.” Buffy spoke softly, quietly, her heart beating faster and beginning to betray the grip on her adamant plea of not being attracted to Faith.

She couldn’t deny that being in the brunette’s arms felt incredibly safe though. Incredibly right, even if it was wrong. Even if she didn’t know, or didn’t want to admit that she did indeed feel more for Faith than just their Slayer bond explained away. She was far too wrapped up in the feeling of Faith being there for her, being the one now leading her towards the bright lights of her motel.