Faith span around as she sensed the approaching vampire. He was trying his best to be quiet, but had no chance against the waiting slayer. Not only could she hear him with her superior hearing, and smell him as he sweat inside his muddy pants, but she could feel him. The tingles up her spine made her shudder with anticipation and ordered the hairs on the back of her neck to stand to attention. She loved that feeling; knowing she was about to slay and relishing the build up of tension inside her. It was all she lived for.

He jumped out at the grinning girl in front of him; he never had time to wonder just what it was she was grinning at. The dark haired slayer leapt into action. Sure, she could have staked him almost instantly, but then where would the fun in that be? She always liked to play a little before she wiped her unlucky foes off the face of the earth.

The slayer let rip with a spectacular flying kick. The poor dead guy never had a chance as he was sent flying backwards.

“Awww, come on. You can do better than that, grave-boy. Don’t make it so easy for me. Come on, I’ll give ya a chance,” she teased.

She gave the vamp one of her sexiest grins, and her eyebrows suggested to him that just maybe the leather clad girl actually wanted to feel his teeth sinking into her neck; she certainly looked liked she wanted something dressed like that. She was wearing tight black leather pants and an even tighter white tank top - that left not very much to the imagination.

He leapt toward her licking his lips, but instead of feeling her soft skin against his teeth, he felt her hard fist slam into his head. She laughed at the confused look on his face, and just as he was deciding if maybe it was a better idea to leave the crazy bitch alone, it dawned on him that she was a slayer.

Faith caught the realisation cross his face and lunged forward, stake in hand. “Too late, sorry. It was a blast,” she said cruelly.

She turned away as he exploded into dust.

“Nice work, Faith.”

Faith lifted her gaze to find her blonde counterpart standing in the shadows with her hands on her hips. It almost took the breath right out of her.

'Damn, Buffy, you look good,' Faith thought to herself.

She almost wanted to say it out loud, but it never came out; in all the time she had known her, it never came out. What use would it do anyway? Buffy was Miss Goody Two Shoes, and she was certainly Miss As Straight As You Could Be; she had the boyfriend to prove it. So he was dead and all - what with being a vampire - but Angel and Buffy. . .well that’s just the thing, it was always going to be Angel and Buffy.

Faith pushed everything she was feeling for Buffy to the back of her mind and walked towards her.

“Hey, B. What you doing out so late? Thought you’d done your patrol?”

* * *

Buffy unconsciously stepped further back into the shadows as Faith approached. There was just something about the way Faith moved, almost as if she were stalking something, like a predator. And Buffy felt like she was the prey - then she realised how stupid that sounded and chastised herself for it.

Coming out from the darkness the older girl let go of the breath she had been holding. She was not entirely sure why she had been holding it, but then again, she was never entirely sure about anything when she was around Faith.

“I had an idea that you might be here. My mom’s away for a few days and me and Willow are having a kind of sleepover. Anyway, we wondered if you’d like to come along. I know you’ve probably got a thousand other things that you’d rather do but. . .the offers there if you want. I mean, you don’t have to but. . .”

“Jesus, B. Take a breath why don’t ya?” Faith chuckled.

“Sorry,” Buffy said coyly. “Anyway, we’ve got food. I-I know how you always get hungry and horny after a slay. We can fix the hungry at least.”

Before she could stop it a wicked thought sprang into Buffy’s mind and refused to be ignored: she'd love to help with the horny part too. It flew almost out of nowhere and caused a thousand butterflies to do the conga in her stomach.

Yep, she was definitely unsure of a lot of things around the sexy slayer. For one thing, Buffy had definitely come to think of Faith as sexy, and that’s not the kind of thing that sat easy with her, what with being straight and all.

* * *

Faith gave the invitation a second or two of thought, but then came to the conclusion that passing up the chance to spend the night with Buffy would be insane - even if it was going to be in all innocence. It was better than nothing.

“As long as you’ve got food, I’ll be there. Like you said, Slayer. . .I’m hungry,” Faith confirmed with a grin.

She said nothing about being horny too. She liked pushing things with Buffy, but knew that pushing too far would do her no good.

She picked her jacket up off the floor and gestured for Buffy to go ahead of her out of the cemetery gates. As she watched the slim blonde ease past her and out into the street, she allowed her eyes to wander to Buffy’s pert little backside. God knows how many fantasies she’d had about running her hands over that backside as Buffy groaned with pleasure on top of her. Her mouth was practically watering at the very idea.

Just then, Buffy turned to look at her, and it took all her strength to pull her gaze up from waist level to meet the other girl’s eyes. She hoped she hadn’t been caught out. Faith would have liked nothing more than to just pull Buffy to her and possess her lips with her own – hell, she would love to possess her in all kinds of ways - but if the truth be told, she was afraid. The girl who liked to flip the middle finger to the world and say “fuck you, I don’t give a shit” without batting an eyelid. . .was afraid.

She hated to admit it, but right now her growing friendship with Buffy was the most important thing in her life. She didn’t want to screw it up, even if she did want the exquisite girl before her more than anything she’d ever wanted before.

* * *

Buffy was almost certain when she had turned around that Faith had been staring at her rear end with a look of. . .well it could only be described as lust. She hoped that the rising heat within her was not reaching her face and causing her to blush. She couldn’t stop herself also hoping that she had been right to identify the look as one of lust. As much as it freaked her out, she wanted the other slayer to want her.

Buffy let that run through her mind for a second, the words “she wanted the other slayer” highlighted with an imaginary marker. Oh yeah, it definitely freaked her out. But it also sent her butterflies into overdrive.

She knew quite a bit about Faith’s sexual history - it’s not like the younger girl was at all modest - but Buffy was sure Faith had never said anything about being interested in other girls. Then again, there was the flirting, not only with her but with other girls at the Bronze too. Although most of Faith’s flirting did seem to be directed towards her, she had thought that it was just to anger Angel more than anything. But maybe. . .

'Nah, don’t go there, Buffy,' she said to herself. 'I mean, what would you do if she went beyond flirting and actually came on to you?'

Before she could think of an answer to that, Faith snapped her out of her reverie.

“So, we gonna stand here catching cobwebs all night, or make a move, B?”

“Right, yeah. Come on,” Buffy said quickly.

Faith strode up beside her as they made there way to Buffy’s house.

About half way Faith stopped to call in at a late night shop.

“Gotta get some supplies. This sleepover thing’ll be wicked cool,” she said with a mischievous grin.

Buffy thought better than to make anything of it. I mean, the girl must have been born with that grin on her lips.

'And what nice lips they are, so soft looking and mmm,' Buffy thought in the privacy of her own head before mentally slapping herself for thinking such a thing.

The smile it had brought about refused to budge, however.

* * *

Faith’s idea of supplies for there little sleepover was plenty of alcohol. She had no problem getting served without ID - the girl oozed confidence so nobody was going to stop her getting what she wanted. She left the shop with her arms full, and a lollypop sticking out the side of her mouth.

“Guess the hunger’s kicking in,” Buffy remarked.

“You got that right, B. Here, wipe that grin off your face and take some of these.” Faith handed Buffy a bag full of booze.

“Jesus, Faith. Are you planning to invite the neighbourhood?”

The younger slayer rolled her eyes.

'You are far too straight, Buffy,' she thought to herself, 'in every way.' Frowning because it was true she realised she had to keep telling herself that 'she’s straight, she’s straight. . .she’s fucking straight.'

But no matter how many times she said it to herself, her mind just kept wandering to the fantasies she had been having about her little blonde friend. She knew she was going to have to keep her cool, especially tonight. Faith had never been to a sleepover - at least not this kind of sleepover. It would certainly be an experience.

They reached Buffy’s house and made there way in past a wide eyed Willow and into the kitchen.

“Hey guys, what’s that you’ve got?” Willow asked.

Faith threw a bottle over to Willow and looked directly at Buffy, raising an eyebrow in a rather sexual manner. “Something to get us in the party mood, Red.”

'Shit, Faith. Stop being so damn flirty, do you want Buffy to run a mile?' Faith asked herself.

She could kick herself sometimes; was this her idea of playing it cool?

She kept her eyes on Buffy to see if she had pushed a little too far, but to her surprise Buffy was just looking at her with kind of a goofy grin.

Then all hell broke loose, or rather half a bottle of beer decided to offload itself into Willow's face as she attempted to open it.

“Shit, Red. Sorry,” Faith said. “I shouldn’t have thrown it.”

Faith tried her best not to laugh, just in case it was the wrong thing to do. But then Buffy practically burst her sides howling at the sight of her soaking friend. It was all the invitation Faith needed, and she joined Buffy in a full on laugh-o-rama.

Willow just stood there, one minute giggling, the next complaining about how she really didn’t like the idea of a beer-shower.

“I’m going to get cleaned up. The popcorn needs popping if either one of you can pull yourselves off the floor to do it,” Willow huffed and stormed up the stairs.

“Here, Faith. Put the rest of the booze in the fridge while I do the popcorn,” Buffy instructed, wiping the tears from her eyes and continuing to chuckle now and then.

“It wasn’t that funny, B.”

“I know. It’s just a while since I’ve had something to laugh about.” Buffy's face took on a more solemn expression.

Faith instantly felt bad for causing that beautiful smile to disappear. And to Faith it was the most beautiful smile she had ever known.

* * *

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Faith said meekly.

“You didn’t, Faith. It’s just stuff. You know.”

Of coarse Faith didn’t know. How could she?

Nobody knew that Buffy had practically broken up with Angel. Nobody knew that night after night all she could think about was Faith. It was becoming too much for her. She couldn’t be in the same room as Faith without her body tingling, and not just in a slayer-perception kind of way. No, this ran much deeper. It had crept up on her like a hungry animal. No matter how much Buffy pushed it to the back of her mind or ignored it, it was always there just waiting to be acknowledged.

She wanted that sexy body pushed up against her. She wanted Faith’s hands running free over her. Her lips sliding against her own as the dark eyed beauty looked at her with desire in her eyes. Desire, need, and even love.

'Love?' Buffy asked herself in shock.

She dropped the glass she was holding but before it could hit the floor Faith sped forward and caught it.

“You ok, Buffy? You look kinda spaced,” Faith said, her eyes full of concern - though Buffy couldn’t help but wish it were more than that.

“I’m ok,” Buffy replied. “Take some drinks through to the living room and I’ll be in with some food in a minute.”

She had to put a little space between her and the other slayer while she regrouped.

As Faith made her way out of the room the confused blonde couldn’t help but let her gaze linger on the other girl’s retreating backside.

'It must be catching,' Buffy mused.

She eventually busied herself making the popcorn and emptying various bags of crisps and nuts into bowls. She was trying her best to keep her thoughts on what she was doing and not on the desirable girl in the other room, but it was a lot harder than she ever imagined it would be.

When she had first begun to realise that her blossoming friendship with Faith was becoming more important to her than spending time with Angel, she knew she was in trouble. It didn’t take long for the feeling of enjoyment she got around Faith to develop into something more. She began to appreciate the way Faith looked a lot more than she did any of her other female friends; her eyes, her skin, her more than ample chest and the way her leather pants hugged her delectable backside; that perfectly toned stomach that just begged for fingernails to be trailed over it. Buffy was powerless to stop these thoughts, no matter how hard she tried.

Her heart would beat a little faster around Faith, and her mind would refuse to function properly - especially when the younger girl was in one of her flirty moods, which was more often than not. More recently, Buffy had been having ever increasingly erotic dreams about Faith. She would wake up more and more confused, and more and more frustrated and tempted. But things were becoming clearer every time she saw her, every time they slayed together, and every time Buffy’s stomach turned somersaults if Faith accidentally brushed against her. She wanted her, longed for her, and if she looked deep enough - past being terrified about the whole thing - she was fairly sure she was falling for her.

It was a hard thing for Buffy to admit to herself. Never before would she have called herself anything other than straight. But here she was, thinking that she was falling for another girl, dreaming about all the ways she wanted to be touched by her, loved by her. And what she wanted to know more than anything right at this moment, was if Faith felt the same way or not.

* * *

Faith set the bottles down on the coffee table and proceeded to take a long hard drink. Willow was still mumbling to herself as she made her way down the stairs to join her, towel in hand.

“This time, can I have one that won’t explode in my face?” Willow asked.

“Sure. You gotta see the funny side, though,” Faith pointed out as she handed Willow a drink before they both slouched down onto the couch together.

Willow tentatively opened her bottle, then when she was sure it was safe she downed half the contents in one go.

“Red, breathe much? There’s plenty in the fridge you know,” Faith pointed out.

“Must have been thirsty I guess.”

“Who’s thirsty?” Buffy questioned.

Faith jumped up as Buffy entered the room. She rushed to help her with the snacks she was struggling to balance, almost knocking Willows drink out of her hand in the process.

“Hey, I just got dry,” Willow complained.

The two slayers just looked at each other grinning.

Faith wasn’t sure when it was that they had passed the point where they should have been doing something other than just look at each other, but it had definitely come and gone. Buffy’s dazzling green eyes transfixed the younger slayer - they always did.

Everything about Buffy sent her heart racing. It had been that way from the very first moment she had met the cute little blonde in front of her now, and try as she might she just couldn’t help but want Buffy - in every way she knew that Buffy wouldn’t think was right.

'Fuck, B. If you don’t turn away I know I’m gonna have to leap on you right here and now and rip all your clothes off with my teeth,' Faith groaned to herself.

Faith could only hope and pray that her eyes wouldn’t give away how much she needed the other girl. It was fast becoming an uncomfortable silence but then Willow came to the rescue, and as much as Faith was smitten with Buffy she could have kissed her.

“Earth to the slayers. Come in unnaturally strong and freaky vampire killing people,” Willow said in a dorky voice.

Faith broke the headlock Buffy’s eyes had her in and did her best to move some stuff around on the table, making way for the snacks. Strange how such a simple act became almost impossible when all she could think about was what had seemed to be just a glimmer of something resembling her own desire in those beautiful green eyes.

'You’re clutching at straws, Faith,' she told herself. 'Very, very short straws. Midget straws, that are slippery and have legs so they can’t be caught. Jesus, I’m losing it.'

“Here, Willow. Sort this out will ya?” Faith said as she handed the plate of snacks to the wide eyed girl.

“Faith, are you feeling ok? You just called me Willow. You never call me that.”

“Yeah, right,” Faith mumbled, seemingly having lost the power of comprehensible speech.

She decided to shut up, sit down, and take a much needed drink. It was going to be a very long night.