Chapter 9

“Hey!”  Faith calls out, smiling as she jogs to catch up withTara between classes.

“Hey back, honey.  What are you doing here?”  Tara questions curiously, smiling at the slayer. 

“Do ya’ mind if I invite B and Little D over for dinner tonight?  And what do ya’ wanna cook that I should probably pick up?”  Faith grins as Tara kisses her softly on the cheek.  The two women having been dating for the past month and a half, making her happier than she would have imagined possible and the only dark cloud that Faith could see on the horizon is when and if Red found out.

Tara nibbles on her bottom lip as she looks at Faith.  “Something that I can fix within a couple hours, so no roasts or anything like that.  What do you feel like, Faith?”

Faith grins wickedly and wiggles her eyebrows before swooping in to kiss Tara hungrily.  Smiling against Tara’s lips as the Wiccan laughs. 

“You won’t let us have that for dinner.”  Tara grumbles good-naturedly at the slayer, before kissing her softly. 

Faith chuckles and runs her hands up and down Tara’s back, happier now that the blonde had gained some weight back, but still not happy with where she’s at weight wise.  “Make it something that’ll be easy and quick to throw together.  I know you’re tryin’ to study for finals and I told B we probably wouldn’t be doin’ any dinner dates for the next couple weeks because of that.”

Tara shakes her head at the dark-haired slayer.  Surprised at the woman going out of her way to be friendly to Buffy, knowing in a way she’s doing it for her.  Buffy and Dawnie having come to dinner a couple times a week and slowly becoming more like friends.  When Buffy had walked her back to the dorm after dropping Dawn off at a friend’s house and Faith had to go in to work, the slayer had asked her how things were going between the two of them.  Laughing quietly, Tara remembers her response. 

“Going?  Going…  The crazy damn slayer is being the perfect gentleman, is how things are going.  She’s driving me crazy.”  Tara grumbles waving her hands around.

Buffy stops and turns to stare in disbelief at Tara.  “We are talking about Faith here, right?  Original ‘want, take, have’ woman?”

“Yes, we are.”  Tara sighs quietly, tucking her hands in her pockets as she looks at Buffy.  “She’s got it in her head that she wants to take things slow and get to know each other.  I think I know more about her than I know about myself.”  Tara shrugs and smiles softly as the surprised look crossing Buffy’s face.  “We’ve kissed, hugged and slept together, Buffy.  And I mean LITERALLY slept together.  No lovemaking involved.  She even wears clothes to bed, and I know she normally doesn’t.” 

Buffy’s mouth opens and closes as she stares in surprise at Tara, blushing lightly at the thought of the two women making love.  “So… no getting hot and heavy, huh?”

“No.  And it’s about ready to drive me crazy.”  Tara admits grumpily.  “She bitches that she wants me to gain weight and get my strength built back up while we date and learn more about each other before we become more physical.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Faith I know.”  Buffy whispers in surprise.

“No.  The Faith you knew has changed, Buffy.  She’s changed so much from the scared, frightened girl she was.”  Tara’s haunted eyes look up into Buffy’s.  “She had an absolutely horrible life growing up.  And things just seemed to spiral out of her control.”  Tara runs a hand through her hair as she slowly starts walking towards her dorm again.  “Because of what happened before, she’s taking things extremely slow this time.  Her own words were that she didn’t want to fuck this up.  She wanted to do this one thing right in her life.”  Tara let’s the tears come to her eyes thinking about the slayer that has literally grabbed hold of her heart and hasn’t let go of it.  “I never did tell you the way we met this time around, did I?”  Tara smiles at the blonde slayer.

“No, you didn’t.”  Buffy shakes her head, her mind trying to wrap around the thought of Faith being responsible, caring and obviously loving with the way she treats Tara.  Having seen it with her own two eyes on the nights she’s come over to the apartment, admittedly she’d done it to begin with to be sure Tara was okay.  But seeing Faith literally doing everything for Tara that she could and the soft touches the slayer would place on Tara’s cheek at opportune times making Buffy realize that Faith had literally fallen head over heels for Tara.

“Well, I was kind of feeling sorry for myself, so I decided to visit the club Faith happened to be bouncing for…”  Tara continues with the story, explaining what she’d been able to piece together from her time being passed out on through her less than stellar performance of smacking the dark-haired slayer.  Finally ending with Faith’s stalking of her at the campus and them ending up at the Magic Box, leaving Buffy stunned and speechless.

“What’cha thinkin’ about?”  Faith questions quietly, stroking her fingertips softly over Tara’s cheek, seeing the faraway look in Tara’s beautiful blue eyes, admitting to her self that she’ll never get tired of looking into the blue depths.

“Just remembering shocking the hell out of Buffy by telling her about how we met up.”  Tara admits softly, coming back to look at Faith.  “Dinner…  Ummm.  Do you feel like baked chicken, mashed potatoes and salad?  Maybe some corn on the cob or some other kind of vegetable to go with it?”

“Sounds good.  Will three chickens be enough, or should I pick up four?”  Faith brushes her thumb gently over Tara’s chin.

“Better get four.  You and Buffy can eat at least one a piece and probably demolish a third between you.”  Tara smiles as Faith’s thumb ends up traveling over her lips, knowing the slayer has a fascination with her lips.

“’Kay.  I’ll pick up some additional potatoes along with the ears of corn and salad fixin’s while I’m at the store.  I better go before I make ya’ late for your next class.”  Faith leans in and kisses Tara softly, capturing Tara’s bottom lip between hers to suckle for a few moments before easing away.  “Be careful.  I’ll see ya’ in a couple hours.” 

“Bye, love.”  Tara calls out softly after the quickly departing slayer.  Her eyes following the dark-haired woman before she shakes herself out of her stupor to realize she’s going to be late for class.  “Shit!”  Tara growls before taking off running towards the building her class is in.

***

“Dawn!  If you don’t hurry your ass up, you aren’t going!”  Buffy yells as she jogs down the stairs looking for her steel toed boots, planning on doing patrol on the way home from Faith’s apartment.  Dawn actually having been on her best behavior and doing what she’s supposed to since Faith had ripped into her about the way she’d acted towards Tara.  Buffy shakes her head in remembrance of Faith coming to Tara’s defense, and even more surprised when Dawn had admitted she’d treated the Wiccan that way. 

The dark-haired slayer’s selfless attitude almost slapping her in the face when she’d realized how bad off Tara had gotten.  There was no denying the fact when faced with the extremely skinny woman with the dark shadows under her eyes, knowing Tara looked even worse than she herself did.  Faith being the one to bring the truths home to her and Dawn making her feel even worse for the way they had treated Tara.  Giving the dark-haired slayer another chance was something she and Dawn both had discussed in some detail after Faith had left. 

Tara’s discussion with her about how she and Faith hadn’t even become intimate yet was a surprising shock to her.  Though having watched the way Faith treated Tara, almost as if she was afraid she’d break the woman, gave her a serious clue as to how much the dark-haired slayer cared for the Wiccan. 

Buffy sighs quietly as she finds her boots, yanking them on and tying them as she hears Dawn mumbling as she heads into the bathroom.  Smiling in remembrance of the way Faith had freaked out when Tara had accidentally burned her hand the last time they came for dinner cementing it in her mind that Faith would do everything in her power to protect Tara. 

“What’s Tara fixing for dinner?”  Dawn yells out as she jogs down the stairs, her eyes opening wide as the front door opens and Willow walks in.  “Oh, shit.”  Dawn whispers softly, her eyes snapping over to Buffy’s, the worry obvious in her gaze, the two of them having decided not to tell Willow that when they went out they were usually meeting up with Tara and Faith.  Of course, Willow didn’t even know Faith was back in town let alone that she and Tara are a couple now.

“You’re…”  Willow blinks in surprise as she looks at Dawn before turning her gaze to Buffy.  “She lives in the dorm, so how can she be fixing dinner?  And since when did you guys start seeing my girlfriend?”

“Ex-girlfriend.”  Dawn mumbles a little louder than she meant to, unconsciously stepping backwards up the stairs a couple steps when Willow glares at her. 

“A friend of hers was kind of like us with the lack of cooking skills and talked Tara into cooking for her.  We ran into Tara and she asked if we would want to come over occasionally for dinner.”  Buffy scrambles for the explanation, her eyes wide as she looks at an obviously angry Willow.

“And when were you going to tell me about the fact you’ve been seeing Tara?”  Willow narrows her gaze on Buffy, her hands on her hips.

“I’m not ‘seeing’ Tara, Willow!  It’s just friends getting together every now and again for dinner.”  Buffy throws her hands in the air.  “That’s all it is, nothing else.  Plus Tara’s allowed to see whomever she wants to.  She’s not anyone’s exclusive property the last I knew.”

“I’ve been trying to get her to come back to me!”  Willow hisses, her eyes flashing at Buffy.  “So is she dating this other woman?”

Buffy cusses internally as she glances up at Dawn before turning her gaze back on Willow.  “I think that’s something you should maybe ask Tara, Willow.  As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t any of OUR business who Tara dates or doesn’t date.  As long as she’s happy, that’s the important thing.”

Dawn hesitantly works her way back down the stairs and maneuvers around Willow to stand in the doorway, looking nervously at her sister.

“Who is this other woman?”  Willow finally questions, her eyes narrowing on Buffy as the slayer turns pale.

Dawn winces hard at the redhead’s question.  “Buffy, we’re going to be late.  Willow, maybe you should call Tara sometime and see if she wants to meet you out somewhere and talk about things?”  Dawn suggests, thankful that Buffy hurried over and urged her on through the door.

“We’ll see you later, Willow.”  Buffy calls over her shoulder as she and Dawn practically run down the walkway.

Willow stares after the two Summers’ as they hurriedly leave the house, her hands on her hips as she follows them out to stand on the porch, watching them disappear around the corner.  “What the hell are you two keeping from me?”

***

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”  Buffy growls as they finally get a few blocks from the house. 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t realize she was coming into the house.”  Dawn’s shoulders droop, her eyes worried as she looks at Buffy.

“It isn’t your fault, Dawn.  It was bound to happen sometime.  We’re going to have to tell Tara and Faith, though.  That way they’ll be ready for whatever Willow might do.”  Buffy admits, running a shaky hand through her hair.  “Jesus!  Those two have been broken up for over six months now!  Tara even mentioned that she’d told Willow she wasn’t interested in getting back together with her, why isn’t Willow just letting it go?”

“Tara’s afraid of her, Buffy.”  Dawn admits quietly, her eyes showing her tumultuous feelings. “I don’t know why, but I’ve noticed the way Tara becomes real antsy and stutters whenever we mention Willow’s name.”

Buffy sighs heavily and looks at Dawn.  “You’ve noticed that too, huh?”  Buffy looks ahead as they walk quickly towards Faith’s apartment.  Silently thinking about her best friend and Tara, the two women had seemed perfect for each other, but now, seeing Tara with Faith, Buffy has to wonder.  “Your honest opinion, Dawn.  Who do you think Tara being with seems more…”  Buffy waves her hands around, not knowing how to phrase it.

Dawn sighs and glances at her sister before looking forward again, watching where they’re going.  “Before I would have said Willow without a seconds hesitation.  But now…”  Dawn shrugs her eyes thoughtful.  “I only ever heard Tara raise her voice once with Willow.  They never seemed to argue, which I thought was a good thing.  Now…  Tara and Faith argue back and forth like crazy and the next moment they’re laughing and kissing.  It’s almost like it’s something they enjoy.  And Faith is so damn protective of Tara.  I have to admit I like seeing that.”  Dawn admits quietly.

“There is something about Tara and Faith.”  Buffy nods her head in agreement, allowing a smile to cross her face.  “Have you noticed how much more playful Tara is?  I always thought she seemed quiet and serious the majority of the time.”

Dawn purses her lips and thinks about it for a few minutes.  “She joked around, but the way she is now is so much more carefree than she was before.  I think Faith has been good for her.”

“I think they’re good for each other.”  Buffy comments softly.  “I was really worried to begin with, but now…  I’m thankful Faith and Tara hooked up.  Tara was wasting away to nothing, and I think she was on a self-destructive path.”

Dawn pales in remembrance, and her own actions that probably added to the way Tara had been.  “She’s getting better.  Faith pisses her off the way she keeps adding food to her plate.”

“Yeah, but you noticed Tara eats it.”  Buffy smirks at her sister as the two of them laugh as they make it to the block Faith’s apartment is on.  Buffy surreptitiously looks behind them, quickly searching the area to make sure Willow hadn’t followed them, sighing quietly in relief when she doesn’t see the redhead.

“Yes, she does… after a few growls and grumbles at Faith.  I think Tara’s picking up some of Faith’s bad habits.”  Dawn jokes, her eyes twinkling.

“I think you may be right.”  Buffy chuckles as they enter the apartment building, hurrying to the elevator and pressing the button. 

***

“You’re supposed to be studyin’ while the food cooks.”  Faith closes her eyes and whimpers as Tara’s lips slowly make their way down her neck, groaning deeply as Tara’s tongue swirls around her pulse point before sucking the flesh into her mouth.  “Fuck…”  Faith arches her neck giving Tara better access to the flesh she’s torturing. 

“Tired of studying.”  Tara mumbles as she releases the flesh, pressing in against Faith’s side.  Slowly stroking her hand up Faith’s muscular thigh, groaning deeply at the feel of the slayer’s muscles flinching under her hand, letting her other hand continue to stroke through Faith’s wavy hair as the slayer sits tensely beside her.  “Relax, Faith.  I’m just kissing you.”

“That ain’t all you’re doin’.”  Faith growls as Tara’s hand gets dangerously close to her apex.  Capturing the digits, Faith threads their fingers together.  “Stop it.”

“Faith…”  Tara whispers into the slayer’s ear.  “I want to make love to you.  I want to touch and taste every single inch of your body.”

“FUCK!”  Faith growls deeply, hopping up from the couch as she releases the blonde’s hand.  Running shaky hands through her hair, she paces back and forth in front of the coffee table.  “T-Bear, you can’t know how much I wanna carry you to that bed and spend the rest of the evenin’ and night touchin’, kissin’, tastin’ and makin’ love to ya’…”

“Then do it.”  Tara whispers softly, her eyes dark with passion and love for the dark-haired slayer.

“God!”  Faith cries out quietly, turning to look at Tara.  Working her way over to her and kneeling on the floor in front of her after shoving the coffee table out of the way, Faith runs her hands up and down Tara’s thighs while she looks into blue eyes, never knowing that blue eyes could show so much until she’d seen Tara’s. 

Tara lifts her hands and places them on either side of Faith’s face, holding her still as she leans in to kiss her with all the love and desire she’s feeling, groaning deeply as Faith lifts her body up and presses her back into the couch.

Faith growls as she plunder’s Tara’s mouth.  As Tara’s hands trail down her back to grasp her ass, squeezing her butt cheeks strongly, Faith breaks off the kiss and groans deeply as she presses harder against Tara, the two women shifting until she’s lying on top of the Wiccan on top of the couch.  Grunting as Tara presses her thigh firmly against her apex.  Burying her face in Tara’s neck, Faith rubs her body against her leg.

“Goddess, you feel good.”  Tara whimpers as she works her hands under the slayer’s tank top, letting her fingers caress over the hot velvety skin, arching into Faith as the slayer nips gently on her neck before sucking the flesh into her mouth, knowing the slayer is marking her. 

Panting as she releases the hot flesh, Faith licks her tongue all the way up the blonde’s neck before kissing her way hungrily towards Tara’s lips.  Shifting slightly, Faith presses her hip into Tara’s apex while continuing to rub against Tara’s thigh, capturing the loud groan coming from Tara in her mouth as she invades Tara’s mouth, battling firmly against the blonde’s tongue. 

Tara grasps the slayer’s ass with both hands, urging her to move faster against her while battling against the slayer’s invasion until they break apart, panting heavily.

“Fuck…”  Faith groans into Tara’s neck as she presses harder into Tara’s thigh picking up her speed as she feels the desire building even more.  “NO!”  Faith grunts as someone knocks at the door, knowing its Buffy and Dawn.

Tara whimpers loudly as Faith slows down.  Holding onto the slayer tightly, Tara unconsciously shakes her head.  “Tell them to go away.”  Tara growls lowly, her voice rough with desire.

Faith breathes fast and heavy against Tara, knowing it would have only taken a couple more minutes to reach climax for herself, and from the heat coming from Tara, probably not much more for her.  “Sorry, babe.”  Faith finally whispers after a few more moments as Buffy knocks on the door again.  “I’m comin’ B.  Hold your horses…  While we get control of ours.”  Faith finishes the last of that quietly against Tara’s shoulder.

Tara grumbles quietly, before finally chuckling at Faith’s comment.  “I can’t handle much more, Faith.  I’m half tempted to just throw you down to the floor and have my wicked Wiccan way with you.”

Faith nods her head in understanding.  “Soon, babe.  I promise I ain’t gonna fight much more.  But maybe we should wait until after finals, that way I ain’t worryin’ that I’m distractin’ you from ‘em.”

Tara groans loudly as Faith finally eases from her.  “Did you ever think that the sexual frustration that’s been building is a major distraction in and of itself?”

Faith stares down at the flushed Wiccan, her breath catching at the glow of desire coming from Tara, along with the mussed hair, swollen pouty lips and the dark blue eyes filled with passion.  Trying not to take too deep a breath knowing if she inhales the woman’s desire right now that she may never open the door.  As Tara’s words sink into her brain, Faith blinks and curls her lips up into a half smile.  “A little frustration ain’t ever killed nobody.”

Tara snarls her lip at the slayer as Faith laughs and heads towards the apartment door.  “No, but I damn well might.”  Tara pulls herself up and runs shaky hands through her hair as she stands and heads to the kitchen to check on the food as Faith lets Buffy and Dawn in.

***

Chapter 10

Buffy’s eyes narrow as she looks at the disheveled slayer as Faith opens the door, before she’s hit with the smell of arousal coming from Faith.  “Jesus.”  Buffy mumbles, shaking her head at the smirking slayer. 

Dawn frowns and looks at her sister before shrugging and walking into the apartment, bopping over to Tara to give her a quick hug before grabbing a soda out of the refrigerator. 

Buffy follows Dawn and looks at Tara, sighing heavily as Tara glances back, grinning crookedly.  The woman’s flushed face, swollen lips and messy hair a dead give-a-way, if she hadn’t already figured it out from the smell of sex in the apartment.  “Do you two want us to leave?  Maybe come back some other week?”

Tara opens her mouth to say yes, when Faith places a hand over it. 

“No, we’re okay, B.”  Faith growls quietly at the blonde Wiccan as Tara grunts out a mumbled ‘speak for yourself’ against her hand.  Removing the hand, Faith narrows her eyes on Tara.  “Behave.”

“No.” Tara growls at the slayer before turning back to the stove.

Dawn just shakes her head at the two women before sitting down at the table.  Looking at Buffy, she sighs.  “When should we…”

Buffy shifts uncomfortably as she looks from Faith to Tara, both women having turned to look at her after Dawn’s comment.  “Ah, hell.”  Buffy sits down heavily in one of the chairs at the table.  “Sit down guys while I explain what happened…”

***

“I’ll kill her.”  Faith growls deeply, her eyes flashing with anger.  “She needs to get it through her fuckin’ skull that T-Bear ain’t fuckin’ comin’ back to her!”

“Faith, honey…”  Tara reaches over and grasps Faith’s hand, squeezing it gently.  “It’s just going to take some reinforcement.  I hope.”  Tara whispers the last two words, her eyes worried.

“She’s gonna go off her fuckin’ rocker when she realizes I’m in town.  And then that we’re together…”  Faith shakes her head at the thought.  “Gonna have to worry about the fuckin’ Hellmouth opening, then.”

Tara’s hand unconsciously grasps the slayer’s hand even tighter at the thought.  “I…  I’ve got to t-tell her soon.  She isn’t g-going to wait now that she knows s-something’s up.  I’d r-rather she was t-told than t-to see us t-together.”  Tara looks imploringly at Faith, honestly not knowing what to do, or how to do it.

“You ain’t gonna be by yourself when ya’ tell her.” Faith growls softly at thought.  “Don’t trust the bitch, and even if ya’ got the charm, I’d rather someone be there.”

“Since I’m the one that screwed up, maybe I should be there?”  Dawn offers hesitantly.

“No, Little D.  It ain’t your fault.  It was bound ta’ happen sooner or later.  It’s better it happenin’ like this instead of her seeing me and T-Bear suckin’ face on campus some day.”  Faith runs a hand through her hair as she looks at Tara.  “Let’s eat, we can figure out somethin’.”

Tara nods her head in agreement as she stands to start cutting apart the chickens, smiling as she hears Faith grabbing down the dishes to set the table with.

“Why don’t ya’ just throw a chicken apiece on these two plates, and me and B can tear it apart and eat it, instead of you cutting it up.”  Faith sets the two large platter type plates on the counter, chuckling at them, remembering when Tara had insisted on buying them. 

“Won’t get an argument from me.”  Tara grins crookedly at Faith as she slides a chicken on one plate before sliding another one on the other. 

“Hey!  Maybe I like my chicken already… Oh, the hell with it.  Give it here.”  Buffy winks and grabs her plate before filling up the rest of it with the mashed potatoes, an ear of corn and steamed carrots, having already filled the bowl with salad. 

Faith settles down in her chair after Tara sits down.  Filling up her plate, she automatically places items on Tara’s, ignoring the soft growl coming from Tara.  Pulling a leg off, Faith starts eating as she watches Tara start to eat the food on her plate. 

“Where are you working at, anyway?  I know you said you had a job and it’s at a bar.”  Buffy looks curiously at Faith in between bites of food.

“Ummm.  A bar downtown.”  Faith mumbles, her eyes widening slightly as she darts a glance at Dawn, before sliding back to look at Buffy and shakes her head. 

Buffy frowns at Faith, mentally going over the extremely short list of bars in town.  Her eyes widening in surprise as it occurs to her which one Faith is working at.  Her eyes turning to look at Tara in surprise.  “You went there?”

Tara blushes lightly and nods her head.  “My defense, I didn’t realize exactly what kind of bar it was.”

“Yeah, but you decided to stay and get drunk.”  Faith points out a soft growl in her voice.

“And look at how well that’s turned out.”  Tara grins crookedly at the dark-haired slayer.

Faith grumbles under her breath, not able to argue the point as she starts eating with a vengeance, ignoring the quiet laughter coming from Tara.

“What am I missing here?”  Dawn questions, her eyes going from one person to another.

“Never mind, Dawnie.  It’s something that we would prefer you not be aware of.”  Tara explains quietly, her eyes serious as she looks at the teenager.  “It’s something that I’d prefer not to be aware of, to tell you the truth.”  Tara smiles apologetically at the teen.

Dawn starts to argue until she sees the look in Tara’s eyes.  Finally giving in, she goes back to eating as the rest of the group starts tossing ideas back and forth.

“Honey, I know you want to be close, but if she sees you it’ll just probably make her that much angrier.”  Tara comments quietly. 

“Maybe we should tell Willow Faith is in town and has been for the last three…”  Buffy trails off and thinks about it for a few minutes.  “Is it four months now?”

“About that.”  Faith nods her head at Buffy. 

“Well, how about I talk to her about Faith.  Tell her that I’ve been aware of you being back in town, and that you’ve been helping with patrols and been on your best behavior the whole time.”  Buffy offers.

“You could.”  Tara purses her lips and thinks for a few minutes.  “But what is your excuse going to be for not letting her and Xander know before now?”

“Because I was afraid of how they’d react.”  Buffy shrugs and looks at Faith.  “It isn’t like that wouldn’t be the truth.”

“I still can’t believe Anya hasn’t told Xander.”  Tara laughs quietly at the thought.

“She’s already worried that she’s upset you with her comments, she doesn’t want to push matters by letting the cat out of the bag.”  Buffy admits quietly, having been surprised herself until she’d questioned Anya about it one day when she was training at the shop.

“But I told her…”  Tara sighs quietly.  “I guess maybe I should go by again and talk with her.”

“Maybe take her out for a Mocha or somethin’?”  Faith suggests her eyes serious. 

Tara smiles thankfully at her girlfriend. Slowly turning back to Buffy, Tara sighs.  “Do you really want to tell Willow and Xander about Faith being here in town?”

“No, but I think I should.  If I tell them I know about it and that I’ve been talking and dealing with Faith…  It might make things easier.”  Buffy winces and shrugs.

“No matter what, she ain’t gonna take you and me being together well, T-Bear.  She fuckin’ hates my guts and always has.  Findin’ out that you hooked up with me ain’t gonna be a walk in the park.”  Faith offers softly, her eyes worried.  “I don’t fuckin’ care what she says about me or does to me, but I ain’t gonna put up with her treatin’ you like shit.  I’m gonna say that now.”

Tara reaches out to clasp Faith’s forearm, gently squeezing.  “She isn’t going to say anything bad about you without hearing about it from me.”  Tara blinks and takes a deep breath.  “Okay.  I guess the best thing to do is let Buffy break the news that you’re here in town and being a good doobie… at least as good as you know how to be.”  Tara grins crookedly at Faith as the slayer growls playfully at her.  “Then I need to break it to her that there is no way in hell I’ll ever be coming back to her and that I’m dating this wonderful, beautiful woman that surprisingly enough thinks the world of me.” 

“Ain’t that much of a surprise.”  Faith blushes lightly, looking down at the table.  “You crept into my heart the night I carried your ass here.”  Faith admits.

Dawn keeps her mouth shut as she listens to the women talk, watching Faith and Tara’s interaction with each other cementing it in her mind even more that they are surprisingly right for each other. 

Faith shifts her arm and clasps Tara’s hand in hers, lifting it to place a soft kiss on her palm.  “Eat.”  Faith orders quietly. 

Tara smiles lovingly at the slayer before turning back to her plate as Faith releases her hand. 

“Maybe you should just tell her you’re seeing someone seriously and see what happens before you tell her it’s Faith?”  Buffy offers later as they work on finishing up the meal. 

Tara turns her gaze on Faith and slowly shakes her head.  “No.  When I tell her I’m dating someone, I’m telling her who it is.  I’m not going to hide Faith away.  I was worried before about what might happen…  But what can I do?  We’ve just been extremely lucky that she hasn’t seen Faith or even us together.  It isn’t like we’ve been hiding out while we’re on campus.”  Tara admits, grinning crookedly at Faith.

Faith shrugs and looks at Tara.  “I see her enough, especially when I was pulling my stalker act.”

“Stalker act?”  Dawn questions curiously.

“Yeah.  I pissed off T-Bear the night after I brought her here and she kinda stormed out of the apartment.”  Faith frowns heavily, thinking about the way she’d been nasty to the Wiccan.  “Anyway, it took me a week, but I finally went to the college campus tryin’ to find her.  Kept catchin’ glimpses of Red but not T-Bear.  I finally went in and worked my charm on the people in Registration and was able to get her class schedule and dorm room number.”

“And then she ended up following me for another two weeks until I finally confronted her a week after I realized I had a shadow.”  Tara reaches up to stroke her fingers gently over Faith’s face. 

“Yeah, and I almost fucked up again.”  Faith leans into the caress.  “But we just talked and got to know each other during Spring Break…  Then I told her how I felt and here we are.”

“More like she got jealous as hell when another woman was asking me to dance.”  Tara gently ribs Faith.

“Yeah, but I already knew I cared for ya’.  It just took that added incentive to get my ass moving.”  Faith admits, leaning in to press a kiss to Tara’s lips. 

Buffy watches the loving display, sighing quietly at the obvious love and caring coming from both women.  “Do you have to work tonight, Faith?”

“Yeah.”  Faith eases back from Tara’s lips and works on finishing her food.  “Do you mind walkin’ T-Bear back to campus?”

“Of course not.  I was planning on doing a patrol on the way back home, anyways.”  Buffy shrugs and smiles at the other slayer.  “Maybe one day I need to stop in and check out your work place.”

Tara almost chokes on her water, tears coming to her eyes at Buffy’s smirk and Faith’s laugh, even as Faith gently pats her on the back.  “Goddess, Buffy!  Don’t do that to me.”  Tara wipes her mouth with her napkin, shaking her head at the blonde slayer.  “Go on Saturday, if you’re serious.  I’m doing my normal evil eye on anyone that tries to hit on Faith.”

Faith snorts at the thought of tight-assed B coming to the club, turning a daring look on the slayer, Faith quirks her eyebrow at her.

Buffy sees the silent challenge in Faith’s eyes and chuckles.  “I just might do that, especially since Dawn’s staying the night at a friend’s house on Saturday.”

Tara snorts and covers her mouth, her eyes twinkling merrily at the thought of Buffy in a lesbian S & M bar.  Looking at her lover, Tara grins crookedly.  “Is this Saturday your night at the door?”

“Yep.”  Faith grins wickedly as she looks at B.  “Show up, B.  I don’t get to leave the door that much unless there’s problems, so someone to keep Tara entertained and maybe dance with wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“You’ll let Buffy dance with me?”  Tara questions curiously, her eyebrow quirked in disbelief. 

“Yeah.  She ain’t gonna hit on ya’, so I don’t have to worry about kickin’ her ass.”  Faith wiggles her eyebrows and yelps as Tara pinches her thigh under the table.  “That wasn’t nice.”  Faith grumbles, even as she rubs the spot and grins at the Wiccan.

“They don’t hit on me there.”  Tara snarks at her girlfriend.  “They’re all afraid of you.”

“Are not.  Linda always fuckin’ asks.”  Faith points out gruffly. 

Tara chuckles and nods her head.  “She does it to piss you off.  And it works every single time.”

“She doesn’t!”  Faith snaps her head up to look at Tara.  As Tara grins and nods her head, Faith rolls her eyes.  “When were ya’ gonna tell me that?”

“Why?  You going all slayer-ish on her is entertaining.  She even enjoys it, why do you think she continues to ask me to dance?”  Tara shrugs, laughing quietly. 

“Thought she was dense.”  Faith pouts, looking down at her empty plate.

“No… actually she’s a very smart woman, Faith.”  Tara grins crookedly at her lover as Faith’s eyes narrow on her. 

“How the hell do you know that?”  Faith’s eyes flash with anger, silently wondering when Tara and Linda had a chance to talk enough for Tara to know this.

“Honey, relax.”  Tara reaches over to clasp Faith’s tense forearm gently, her eyes silently pleading for Faith to calm down.  As the slayer slowly relaxes, though the anger is still flashing in her eyes, Tara sighs quietly.  “I found out last week that she’s a Professor at the college.  I literally ran into her when I was hurrying to one of my classes.  She just started at the college this year, and teaches a class I took last year.” 

“And while you were hurryin’ to class you found out all this information?”  Faith growls softly, her hands twitching, thoughts going through her head of letting Linda know in no certain terms to stay away from Tara.

“Honey, she was going back to her classroom that just happened to be in the same building I was headed, so we talked on the way there.”  Tara looks intently into her lover’s brown eyes.  “She wasn’t hitting on me or following me, Faith.  It was an accidental meeting and we talked as we both headed to our respective classrooms.”

“She didn’t hit on ya’?”  Faith questions hoarsely, her eyes searching Tara’s.

“No, honey.  She didn’t hit on me or flirt with me.  We just talked.  Honestly the only reason she does flirt with me and asks me to dance at the club is because it gets you irritated.  If you relaxed about it, she would probably stop.”  Tara explains softly to her dark-haired slayer, gently stroking her hand up and down Faith’s arm as she watches her slowly relax. 

“So I don’t hafta kick her ass?”  Faith pouts at the realization.  “Ain’t no fair.”

Tara chuckles and gently squeezes Faith’s arm before releasing it. 

Buffy watches the two women interestedly.  Knowing she never would have believed how quickly Faith became worried and jealous of the thought of someone hitting on Tara if she hadn’t seen it, the slayer not coming across as the jealous type.  “What happens when someone hits on Faith?”  Buffy questions curiously as she looks at Tara in surprise when a low growl comes from the Wiccan.

“She’s just as bad as me.”  Faith admits, shrugging her shoulders.  “It’s somethin’ we’re trying to work on, but whenever someone comes up and hits on the other…  It’s not usually a good thing.”

Tara sighs and relaxes from where she’d unconsciously stiffened.  “I don’t know why, especially considering the fact I’ve never been jealous before, but with Faith I am.  And it’s only gotten worse, it isn’t getting any better.”

Dawn listens quietly to the three women as they talk, surprised at Tara’s admittance.  Though the way the blonde Wiccan has been acting since she and Faith had hooked up was different from the way she acted with Willow.  The arguing, the kissing and touching was a lot more pronounced and weren’t just the sweet kisses she’d remembered between Tara and Willow.  But the laughter was a lot more frequent as was the teasing and picking on each other in a good way. 

Buffy rubs her chin in thought.  “Ummm.  Just a stupid question, but have you two actually…”  Buffy wiggles her hand around as she looks from Faith to Tara.  “I mean, is Faith still being the perfect gentleman?”

“Yes, damn it.”  Tara growls deeply at the thought, her eyes turned towards the dark-haired slayer.  “Thought I had her earlier, but…”

“Sorry about that interruptus.”  Buffy blushes lightly at the thought, but slowly continues along her previous line of thought.  “Do you think that may be why you two are being so easily irritated by other people hitting on each other?”

“Huh?”  Faith tears her gaze away from Tara to look at Buffy, her mind not quite catching what the other slayer was saying.

Tara considers Buffy silently for a few minutes before she turns her gaze on Faith, wondering if the fact that they haven’t become intimate may be the reason why they’re so quick to become jealous of other people being close to the other person. 

Buffy looks at Faith and sighs quietly.  “The reason you two are so easily irritated by everyone else flirting with each of you may be because you haven’t had sex.”  Buffy rolls her eyes and groans.  “And I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud and in front of my sister.”

Dawn giggles and covers her mouth, shrugging her shoulders.  “I have taken Sex Education in school, Buffy.  I mean, I understand the whole sex with another person thing, and even sex by yourself, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“That’s it, I’m pulling you out of the school, they don’t need to be teaching you about that.  You’re too young.”  Buffy grumbles, though her eyes twinkle to let Dawn know she’s not serious. 

Faith purses her lips and looks towards Tara, seeing the contemplative look in Tara’s eyes, she quirks her eyebrow in silent question.

“Possibly.  We’ll find out here soon.”  Tara narrows her gaze on Faith, grinning crookedly as Faith actually blushes lightly.  Standing, Tara gathers the dirty dishes, smiling at Dawn as the teen helps her.

Buffy taps Faith on the hand and tilts her head towards the living room area.  As the two slayers sit down and Faith looks at her questioningly, Buffy sighs.  “I’m going to say something to Willow either Friday night or Saturday, as long as she’s home.  I don’t want to say anything tonight for fear she might put two and two together.”

“I don’t think she’d ever believe Tara would hook-up with me, B.”  Faith admits, looking over at the blonde in question, smiling softly as Tara teases Dawn about new boyfriends.

“I wouldn’t have either, until I saw you two together.”  Buffy sighs and shakes her head.  “I have to tell you, I worried to begin with that maybe you had an ulterior motive or was just fucking with Tara, but it didn’t take long for me to realize you really care for her.”

Faith turns her gaze on Buffy and nods her head.  “I don’t just care for her, B.  I’m in love with her.  She makes me feel things I ain’t never felt before.  It about tore me apart when I realized how close she was to givin’ up.  She looked bad, B.  Real bad.”  Faith whispers, her eyes shadowed as she looks at Tara.  “She’s slowly filling out, but she’s still too skinny.  I’ve got her takin’ vitamins, muscle builder and other shit, along with making her exercise and walk around town with me a lot on the weekends when she ain’t studying.”

“She’s looking a lot better, Faith.  The circles under her eyes are completely gone and she seems to be developing a nice muscle tone.  Just give it a little more time.  It isn’t something that she can do in a couple months time.”  Buffy comments, knowing from her own personal experience as she’s trying to build her own body back up from her decline into the bad ‘Spike’ era when she came back and didn’t care about anything.  Silently wondering where the blonde vampire had disappeared to, having not seen him for the last three or four months, though she’s not complaining.

“Yeah, I know she’s looking better.  Just wish she hadn’t let herself go like that.”  Faith runs a hand through her hair, her eyes not leaving the blonde Wiccan.  Smiling softly in response to the smile Tara gives her as she looks their way.

“You’ve become a sappy slayer.”  Buffy grunts out quietly.

Faith growls softly at Buffy before shaking her head.  “Only in respect to her, B.  Only for T-Bear.” 

***

Chapter 11

Tara taps her fingers to the music playing on the stereo as she tries to study between classes, smiling as her mind goes to its own wanderings, thinking about Faith.  “This weekend love.  We’ve waited long enough.”  Tara glances over to her small overnight bag that’s gotten a lot of use since she hooked up with Faith, spending every weekend with the slayer and occasionally during the week becoming a normal occurrence.  Smiling softly as she thinks about the slayer’s quickly asked question before she’d run out of her apartment for work, leaving Tara standing stunned last night with Buffy and Dawn chuckling and giggling respectively. 

Re-crossing her legs, Tara shifts slightly against the headboard of her bed as she closes her textbook and tosses it to the side, giving up any pretense of studying as she continues to think about Faith, silently considering the slayer’s almost fearfully asked question as she ran out the door.  “Do I want to move in with Faith?  The answer is an inarguable yes.  But I have to get a job to pay for my half of the bills, and if I do that, with her working nights we’ll hardly ever see each other.”  Tara sighs heavily as she runs her hands through her hair in consideration, knowing Faith would never allow her to work somewhere at night if she couldn’t be there to walk her home during the evening.

Looking at the clock, Tara groans and rolls out of the bed, grabbing one of the power bars Faith had stocked her room with before snatching her book bag and heading out the door, happy it’s Friday. 

***

Faith whistles happily as she twirls the dusting cloth after she finishes dusting her apartment.  Replacing the rag and Lemon-scented Pledge under the kitchen sink she gets the small vacuum cleaner out and plugs it in, silently wondering if Tara will move in with her.  Hoping the Wiccan will, knowing nothing would make her happier than to have Tara living with her, but wondering if the woman’s stubborn streak would keep her from moving in.  Knowing Tara’s penchant for wanting to be self-sufficient, Faith silently wonders if there’s a way she can keep her from wanting to pay half of everything if she does move in. 

Sighing quietly, Faith finishes running the vacuum cleaner and puts it away.  Hesitating for a few minutes, she finally heads to her closet.  Shifting items around, to make room for Tara’s clothes, her heart hopeful as she does the same with her dresser.  Looking at the clock, Faith groans, knowing it’ll be at least another hour before Tara gets there.  Grabbing the box of wood pieces from the bottom of her closet, she heads out to the balcony to make some more stakes as she waits for the blonde to come to the apartment.

***

Tara jogs up the stairs to Faith’s floor, smiling as she strides towards Faith’s apartment door.  Pulling out the keys Faith had insisted she take, Tara unlocks the door and steps in, closing and locking it behind her.  Glancing quickly around, Tara notices the sliding door open to the balcony.  Dropping her bag of clothes by the bed, she quickly makes her way to the door, smiling at the sight of Faith whittling stakes. 

“How was classes today, babe?”  Faith questions smiling as she turns her head towards Tara, having heard the woman coming into the apartment.

“Absolutely, positively boring.  Especially when I wanted to be here instead.”  Tara smiles down at the dark-haired slayer.  Taking the stake from Faith, she tosses it into the box before gently easing the knife from her and setting it on the small table.  Settling herself in Faith’s lap, she wraps her hands around her neck and kisses her deeply until they’re both panting for air.  “But my day’s definitely looking up.”  Tara breathes heavily as she presses her lips firmly against Faith’s neck. 

Faith moans as she tries to keep track of her mental abilities, though her hands are already stroking over Tara’s body and wiggling their way under Tara’s top.  “I thought that this was the time they’re tryin’ to cram as much information into your brain as they can for finals?”

“Yep.”  Tara answers as she nips her way slowly up Faith’s neck before capturing her ear lobe between her lips and sucking softly. 

“Jesus, T-Bear.”  Faith moans, her body arching as Tara’s hand slides from around her neck and slowly trails down to teasingly stroke around her breast. 

Releasing Faith’s lobe, Tara whispers hotly into the slayer’s ear.  “I’m not accepting you telling me we should wait, Faith.  Not any longer.  I’m feeling much better and though I’m still underweight, I’m probably stronger than I’ve ever been before in my life with the exercises you have me doing.  Now I’m going into the apartment, stripping and am going to be on the bed waiting for you.  I suggest you knock off the shavings and get your ass in there within five minutes.  Because if you don’t I’m coming out here naked to float your ass inside.”  Tara warns pressing her lips softly to Faith’s before easing from the quietly whimpering slayer’s lap and heading into the apartment.

Faith swallows hard, the desire already at a fever pitch within her, having been ignited as soon as Tara sat on her lap, a single touch from the blonde enough to make her want her.  Hell, just thinking about Tara was enough to make her want the woman.  As visions of Tara naked float through her mind, Faith groans as she feels her clit twitch with need and a flood of desire ease from her body.  “Jesus, if she touches me I’ll fuckin’ explode.”  Faith mumbles quietly, shaking her head at her wandering thoughts.  “Shit.”  Faith quickly stands, not knowing how much time has elapsed, but not doubting for a single second that Tara would make good on her threat.  Shaking her body and wiping the wood slivers that want to stick off her shirt and jeans, Faith hurries into the apartment.

Tara smiles as Faith makes it in with a minute to spare.  Lying on her side, she watches as Faith stops three steps in from the balcony, her eyes glued to her.  Blushing lightly at the love and desire so obvious on Faith’s face, Tara looks down and plucks at the sheet, having slid the covers down to the end of the bed.  Knowing she looks a lot better than the last time the slayer had seen her naked, but also knowing she has a ways to go yet to be the curvy woman Faith remembers and wants her to be again. 

Faith drinks in the sight of the Wiccan, a part of her wanting to just strip and literally give the woman immeasurable pleasure, while another part of her wants to just take her time and make this first time last for hours.  Wanting to slowly touch, caress and kiss every part of Tara.  Slowly pulling off her tank top, Faith unbuttons and unzips her jeans, sliding them down her legs.  Smiling as she hears the slight inhale from Tara and the smell of arousal become stronger.

Tara slowly wets her lips as Faith walks towards the bed, finally allowing hers eyes to take in all of the slayer’s charms that she’d only gotten quick glimpses of before she’d turn her head away.  Looking over the strong body, Tara lets her eyes linger on the full round breasts before slowly working their way down the defined abdomen, her eyes caught by the scar on her stomach for a few moments before continuing down to the small triangle of brown curls at Faith’s apex. Swallowing hard as the light glints off the curls, showing the slayer’s desire, Tara finally continues down the obviously strong legs.  Slowly trailing her eyes back up the slayer’s body as Faith finishes closing the distance to the bed, Tara groans at the absolutely sensuous smile on her soon to be lover’s face.

Faith slowly kneels on the bed, her eyes caught in Tara’s blue depths.  Gently trailing a finger down the blonde’s cheek, Faith leans in to place a soft kiss on her full lips.  “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”  Faith questions, her voice rough and low with desire.  “A simple look melts my heart.  I ain’t never felt this way about no one before, and I don’t ever see me feelin’ this way about anyone else.”  Faith admits softly, her eyes searching Tara’s, seeing the love shining from her beautiful blue eyes.  “I’m fallin’ for ya’, Tara.  And I thank whatever powers there were that made ya’ come into The Bitch Club and had me recognize ya’.”  Faith presses her lips softly against Tara’s again, not giving the blonde a chance to say anything.  Gently urging Tara onto her back, Faith settles beside the blonde, pressing softly against her side as she slowly deepens the kiss.

Tara moans into the gentle exploration of Faith’s tongue even as she slowly arches into the weapon roughened hand trailing so tenderly over her chest.  Threading one hand through Faith’s silky hair, Tara trails the other hand down her side, slowly touching the velvety hot skin before grasping Faith’s hip, gently tugging on it to pull Faith more into her, urging the slayer to lay on her.

Faith pants lightly as she slowly ends the tantalizing kiss.  “I weigh too much.”  Faith growls softly, as Tara tugs more insistently.  “T-Bear…”

“No you don’t.”  Tara finally whispers.  “I want to feel you touching me, Faith.  I want to feel our breasts, stomachs, and mounds pressing against each other without anything to hinder it.”

Faith whimpers softly as she buries her face in Tara’s neck.  Gently shifting she rolls over onto her back, pulling Tara carefully on top of her, arching as their breasts press against each other, loving the feel of Tara’s body sliding over hers as the blonde settles more fully onto her. 

“This’ll work.”  Tara exhales softly at the feel of the slayer’s soft, hot skin.  “Goddess, you feel wonderful.”  Tara presses her lips over Faith’s neck, darting her tongue out occasionally to get a taste of the slayer.  Not able to help herself, her body already aching, Tara gently rocks her body against Faith’s.

“Oh, fuck!”  Faith groans, shifting her legs further open and shifting her lower body up to come into more direct contact with Tara’s mound rocking softly against hers.  Trailing her hands down to gently cup Tara’s ass, she growls as Tara presses harder into her.

Tara lifts her upper body to look down into Faith’s darkened eyes, the desire obvious on Faith’s face.  Arching her body harder down into Faith’s and slowly gyrating, Tara whimpers as she finally gets the pressure she needs and starts rocking faster as Faith cries out softly.

“Shit…”  Faith groans and presses into Tara’s body as the blonde rocks faster and harder against her, their clits sliding effortlessly against each other with the desire coming from both women.  Realizing she isn’t going to last much longer, Faith finally whispers.  “Not much… longer.” 

Tara growls and doubles her efforts, feeling her own climax literally just seconds away.  As Faith pushes up into her at the same exact moment she presses down, Tara cries out the slayer’s name as she climaxes, her body shaking as she collapses on top of Faith.

Faith groans loudly as she quickly follows Tara over the edge, the Wiccan’s climax and resulting flood of liquid finishing her off.  Collapsing back flat onto the bed, Faith runs her hands up Tara’s back and holds the heavily breathing woman, even as she tries to get control of her own breathing.  Pressing her lips to Tara’s shoulder, Faith gently suckles on the flesh, closing her eyes as the flavor of the Wiccan slowly invades her body.  Loving the earthy, salty taste of Tara’s sweat, Faith growls softly as she fights the urge to roll Tara over onto her back and find out what she really tastes like.  Dragging her tongue over Tara’s neck, before nipping softly at her earlobe, Faith finally gives in.

Tara moans quietly as Faith starts to suck, nibble and lick over her shoulder and neck.  Squeaking as Faith quickly rolls her over and hovers above her, Tara unconsciously licks her lips at the sight of Faith’s eyes almost black with desire.

“I have to taste you.”  Faith finally admits, diving in to kiss Tara hungrily for a few minutes before quickly making her way down Tara’s body.

“Oh, Goddess…”  Tara whimpers burying her hands in Faith’s hair as the slayer makes her way inexorably down her body, knowing the slayer won’t stop until she’s reached her goal.

Faith smiles as she presses quick, hot, wet kisses across Tara’s chest, suckling gently for a brief moment on each nipple before continuing down Tara’s body, planning on coming back in the very near future to work slowly over Tara’s body and find every single spot that’s sensitive on the Wiccan.  Finally reaching Tara’s mound, Faith presses her face against the small triangle of dark blonde curls, inhaling deeply of the blonde’s scent. 

“Faith!”  Tara whimpers the slayer’s name as she feels the hot exhale of breath caressing over her clit even as Faith brushes her face against her mound. 

“Smell so goooood.”  Faith murmurs, pressing her lips softly over Tara’s glistening mound even as she inhales deeply of Tara’s most intimate smell.  The earthy, musky scent makes her mouth salivate with want.  Finally giving in to the want, Faith slides her hands under Tara’s gyrating hips and slides more comfortably between her legs even as she drags her tongue over Tara’s desire covered, swollen outer lips.

Tara tugs gently on Faith’s head, urging the slayer to move a little quicker even as she lifts her head to look down at the dark-haired slayer between her thighs.  Moaning at the sight and dropping her head back onto the pillow as another flood of desire eases from between her lips, Tara closes her eyes as Faith’s tongue strokes softly and tenderly over her lips. 

Gathering the flood of liquid easing from between Tara’s lips Faith groans deeply at the flavor before gently easing Tara’s lips apart to learn Tara’s inner folds with her lips and tongue, gathering all the juices along the way.  Nuzzling further into Tara’s body, Faith teasingly taps Tara’s clit with the tip of her tongue.

“Faith!”  Tara cries out softly, finally pulling the slayer in tighter to her body.  Needing the slayer’s touch as her body quivers with desire.  “Please, Faith.”  Tara begs softly.

Faith groans deeply, her lips and tongue vibrating against Tara’s clit, making the Wiccan’s body shake more.  Finally wrapping her lips around Tara’s clit, Faith suckles gently on the sensitive flesh, occasionally flicking the tip of her tongue over the hard muscle.  Feeling the muscle starting to flinch and quiver in her mouth, Faith flicks her tongue more quickly over it while keeping up a steady suction, groaning as Tara stiffens and explodes in her mouth.  Lapping gently at Tara as she gathers all the liquid she can find, Faith slowly drags her tongue down to wiggle around Tara’s opening before finally sliding in as deep as she can, swirling her tongue around to gather the Wiccan’s essence.

Whimpering as Faith continues to stroke within her body, Tara feels her desire building again.  “F-f-faith…”  Tara arches into the slayer’s mouth as Faith slides her tongue out to drag it over her clit and slowly trailing it over her body, feeling Faith’s hands shift and one slides to gently stroke between her legs before a finger glides gently within her, stroking softly.

Faith circles Tara’s nipple with her tongue as she gently eases in and out of the Wiccan, gradually pressing a second finger gently within her lover, moaning at the hot wet body wrapped around her fingers, clenching and unclenching at a feverish pace.  Straddling Tara’s thigh, Faith presses her center against the Wiccan and rocks to try and ease her own ache.  Working her way further up Tara’s body, Faith groans as Tara pulls her down for an invading kiss.  Battling firmly against Tara’s tongue, Faith matches Tara’s rocking hips, pressing more firmly and quickly into the Wiccan’s heat. 

“Lift up…”  Tara urges, sliding one hand down between their bodies, whimpering at the flood of liquid coming from her lover as she slides two fingers quickly within Faith.  Grinding her palm into the slayer’s clit while stroking in and out of her lover in a matching pace to what Faith’s doing to her as the two women’s foreheads rest against each other and all the sounds heard coming from them are the heavy panting breaths, interspersed with groans and whimpers with the wet clicking sound as they stroke in and out of each other faster and harder.

Faith arches and cries out, flooding Tara’s hand as Tara’s fingers curl within her, hitting her sweet spot and tipping her over the edge immediately.  Barely having any functioning brain cells left to bring Tara to climax before collapsing on top of the Wiccan, panting heavily as she buries her face in Tara’s sweaty neck.

Tara presses a wet, open-mouthed kiss on Faith’s forehead as she gently wiggles her hand from between their bodies and hugs Faith with her shaky arms.  Groaning quietly as Faith finally eases her fingers from within her and the wet digits slowly trail up her body to gently squeeze her shoulder.

Faith closes her eyes and waits for her body to calm down and her brain to start functioning again.  Unaware of the time passing until she feels Tara’s hands gently kneading her back.  Groaning as she realizes she’s lying on top of her lover, Faith shifts slightly to ease part of her weight off the blonde, while keeping as much of her body in contact with Tara as possible. 

“You were fine.”  Tara whispers, her voice scratchy as she runs her fingers through Faith’s damp hair.

Lifting her head, Faith looks into Tara’s eyes and smiles gently at her lover.  Running a finger gently over Tara’s lips, she leans in and kisses her softly.  “Let me get you somethin’ to drink.”  Faith presses her lips to Tara’s again before easing from the bed, groaning quietly at the slight ache between her legs.  Realizing she’s using muscles that she hasn’t used for too many years, pleasing herself not counting as she usually just got off as quickly as she could when the urge struck.  Grabbing a couple handfuls of bottled water, Faith strides back towards the bed, smiling at the crooked grin on her lover’s face.  Gently sitting beside Tara, facing the woman, Faith hands a bottle to her after opening it. 

“Thank you.”  Tara quickly swallows two thirds of the water while watching as Faith downs the entire bottle she opens for herself.  Reaching out with her free hand, Tara runs her fingertips lightly over Faith’s thigh while taking in the sight of her lover sitting Indian style, completely at ease with her body on display.  “You’re a beautiful woman, Faith.  Inside and out.”  Tara whispers quietly, her eyes captured by surprised brown eyes.

“No I ain’t, T-Bear.”  Faith whispers quietly, looking into Tara’s loving blue eyes.  “Though I do feel beautiful when you look at me.”  Faith smiles shyly before leaning in to kiss Tara gently.  “But I’ve fucked up so much in my past, I’m fightin’ an uphill battle to try and make things right, ya’ know?”

“Personally, I think you’re doing a damn fine job, Faith.  You’re saving lives by fighting evil.  You’ve made amends with Buffy and Dawn.  You’re keeping control of your anger and being helpful and dozens of other things.  Don’t put yourself down so much for an accident and one bad mistake.”  Tara brushes her fingertips gently over Faith’s cheek, looking into warm brown eyes. 

“What would my life have been like if you’d been in it when I first came to SunnyD?”  Faith wonders quietly, leaning into Tara’s loving touch.  “You help ground me, T-Bear.  You make me feel like I’m finally doin’ something right with my life.”

“You were doing right before I stepped into your life, Faith.”  Tara whispers softly, cupping the slayer’s cheek and brushing her thumb gently over the slight indention that becomes one of a set of beautiful dimples.  “You saved me, love.  And no matter how horrible I felt when I first came to, I’d do it all over again if it would bring us together again.”  Tara chuckles at the remembrance of her major hangover.

“All I could do was pray you wouldn’t get sick on me.”  Faith shifts to press a soft kiss against Tara’s palm.  “Damned if I knew what to do with ya’.  You know that was totally outta character for me.” 

“You obviously did a good job.”  Tara leans in to kiss Faith softly, leaning over to place her bottle of water on the nightstand, Tara takes the empty bottle from Faith’s fidgeting hands and sets it by hers. 

Faith whimpers softly at the gleam of desire flaring in Tara’s eyes, her body reacting to the look.  “I think I’m gonna be glad I have tonight off.”

“I seriously hope so.”  Tara smiles seductively at her lover as she gently pushes Faith to lie back on the bed before sliding her body tantalizingly over hers.  “We have some serious time to make up for.  I want to see if it’s possible to wear out the slayer.”

Faith groans deeply at Tara’s words before the blonde kisses her firmly.  Threading her hands through Tara’s silky blonde strands, Faith arches her neck as Tara slowly kisses and nibbles her way down the sensitive flesh.  “God, I think I can get used to this.”  Faith murmurs as Tara’s tongue trails down to slowly circle her breast. 

“Not too used to it, I hope.”  Tara chuckles before nipping gently on one of the slayer’s hard nipples.  “I don’t want it to become second nature with no fun involved.  Need to keep it… spicy.”  Tara growls and sucks as much of the slayer’s breast into her mouth as possible.  Kneading the breast as she suckles firmly, enjoying the size, weight and feel of the firm flesh.

“Don’t think that’ll be a problem.”  Faith moans and arches her back as Tara gently scrapes her teeth over her nipple before laving it with her tongue.  As Tara nibbles her way over to the other breast, Faith releases the grip she has on her head to rub Tara’s shoulders and back.  Enjoying the tender ministrations of her lover, Tara giving her something she’s never had before, gentleness, caring and love. 

Slowly trailing her tongue down her lover’s body, along with her fingers Tara hums appreciatively at the unique flavor of her lover, the slightly tangy, spiciness making her mouth water in appreciation.  Finally making her way down to the scar on her stomach, Tara presses soft kiss across the healed wound.  “I’m sorry for the pain you went through, love.”  Tara whispers softly.

“I deserved it, T-Bear.”  Faith tilts her head to look down her body at Tara as the Wiccan looks up at her while pressing more kisses along the scar.  “I was outta control, then.  It was exactly like giving a kid superpowers that didn’t have a clue what to do with ‘em.  I needed guidance, but after my watcher got killed, I wasn’t willing to let anyone in again.  Not completely.”

Tara reaches up to stroke softly over Faith’s cheek.  “You took the long road around, but you made it here.  Don’t keep kicking yourself for what you did, Faith.  Remember it, yes.  Kick yourself over it, no.”  Tara smiles softly as Faith captures her hand and presses soft kisses over each finger, silently wondering if anyone else has ever seen the soft, tender side of the slayer before, or if she’s the first.  Easing back up the slayer’s body, Tara kisses her tenderly, trying to show her how much she loves her with the kiss.

Faith wraps her arms around her lover, immersing herself completely into the woman’s embrace and lips, knowing with certainty that she loves Tara, the feeling of warmth slowly spreading outwards from her chest.  As Tara leans back to press a soft kiss on her lips, Faith brushes her thumb gently down Tara’s cheek and finally over kiss-swollen lips.  Looking intently into dark blue eyes that show so much, Faith finally whispers three small words that she’s never told anyone before.  “I love you.”

Tara feels the tears come to her eyes at the slayer’s vocalization of her feelings.  “Goddess, Faith.  I love you so much.”  Tara whispers kissing her softly before tucking her face in her lover’s neck as Faith hugs her lovingly.

Faith swallows and closes her eyes at Tara’s words.  Knowing the Wiccan loves her, but hearing it meaning so much more.  Pressing her lips to the side of Tara’s head, Faith trails her hands up and down her back, the feel of Tara lying on her feeling right in so many ways.  After a few minutes, Faith finally questions her softly.  “Have you thought about moving in with me?”

Tara smiles at the hesitant note in her lover’s voice before pressing her lips to Faith’s pulse point.  “Yes, I have.  I’ll need to get a job to help pay the bills.”  Feeling Faith tense, Tara shifts up and presses her fingers gently against Faith’s mouth as the slayer starts to say something.  “I’m not going to live off you, Faith.  I’ll pay my fair share, or I’ll look for my own place to live.  Then move as I can afford something better.”

“Please don’t.”  Faith whispers, her eyes serious.  “The Council gives me an allotment for my bills, and I earn pretty good money at the club.  I kinda own this apartment.  Wilky bought it for me so it’s paid for.  As a matter of fact, I contacted the Council and told ‘em they needed to help B out, too.  Now that we’re on speakin’ terms and she ain’t out to thump me.”  Faith admits, blushing lightly at the admittance.  Actually having contacted the Council right after she and Buffy had come to somewhat of a truce, knowing that the slayer should be receiving a hefty lump of money in her bank account soon.

Tara’s eyes widen in surprise as she realizes Faith doesn’t have as many bills as she thought.  Though knowing how the woman could eat, she could understand needing a decent amount of money to come in for food.  Pulling her hand up to rest on Faith’s chest, Tara shifts slightly and rests her chin on her hand as she studies the slayer.

“What?”  Faith questions nervously as Tara continues to look at her intently but doesn’t say anything.

“You went to bat for Buffy with the Council?”  Tara purses her lips as Faith slowly nods her head in answer.  “They send you money and you work at the club.  Being a slayer is expensive, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.  Not only what food I can put away, but clothes and weapons needing to be replaced on a regular basis gets expensive, too.  If I have a pair of leather pants that lasts a month, it’s been a good month.”  Faith admits quietly. 

“I won’t take advantage of you, Faith.”  Tara starts softly, watching Faith for a few minutes.  “But if you don’t mind my being a little picky to find something where I can work half days or something like that, so we can still have time to spend together, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to let me slide until I get a job.  I do have some money put away, just not a lot.”  Tara admits quietly. 

Faith closes her eyes and sighs quietly before nodding her head.  “You ain’t working at night when I can’t be there to pick you up or walk you to your job.  So keep that in mind.  If… if you get a job during the day, I don’t know if it’d be better for you to work like five four hour shifts, or maybe just work two to three full days a week and have the rest of the time off.  What’cha wanna do?”

Tara smiles and shifts forward to place a soft kiss on Faith’s chin.  “I’ll take whatever job I need to.  I’m planning on putting in at the new high school for a teaching position next year, if the rumblings about them building it, are true.  If not, I’ll see if I can’t find some office to work at.  I’ve taken a lot of business courses to fall back on.”

Faith tilts her head slightly and smiles at her lover.  “In other words, you can do it all, huh?”

Tara laughs softly and shakes her head.  “I wouldn’t say that.  But I’m well-rounded with what I can do.  I usually fill in for Anya when she needs someone, that’s where my little nest egg has come from.  Grants only get me so far.” 

Faith watches as Tara yawns, knowing the woman is probably tired.  “Nap time, T-bear.”  Faith orders softly.

“But, I want…”  Tara growls softly as Faith presses her lips against her lips effectively stopping her words.

“After the nap.  Just an hour or two.  We’ll order a pizza or something and stay up half the night making love.  How’s that sound?”  Faith offers, smiling as she runs her fingers gently through Tara’s damp hair. 

“Promise?”  Tara smiles as Faith nods her head.  Shifting slightly, she reaches down for the sheet and slides it up over her body, settling more comfortably on top of Faith, as the slayer wouldn’t allow her to move.  “I do love you, Faith.”

Faith closes her eyes and smiles at the declaration.  “I love you, too, Tara.  Go to sleep, we’ll get up to mischief later.”

“’Kay.”  Tara mumbles against Faith’s neck, pressing her lips against the hot flesh even as she slowly falls asleep.

Faith gently strokes her hands up and down Tara’s back as she listens to her lover’s breathing, knowing Tara’s asleep.  Her mind working fast as she tries to think of something for Tara to do, that’ll let them spend as much time together as possible.  An idea forming in her head, but needing to talk with someone first, Faith smiles and wraps her arms around Tara to take a nap with her lover.

***

Chapter 12

Buffy stops at the bank to deposit her check, only half looking at the print-out the clerk gives her as she starts to head out the door.  Blinking a couple times as it occurs to her that something isn’t right.  She looks back down at the balance she almost trips and falls in shock.  “No, this can’t be right.”  Buffy spins back around and walks back into the bank, heading to the Manager’s office.

***

Buffy walks home stunned after finding out that the money was in the right account, and that it had been wired into her account from England.  After making sure that it was correct, she had the bank pay off the house with a good portion of the balance, so she didn’t have to worry about that payment.  Figuring Monday was soon enough to take care of the money owed to the electric company and the phone company.  A happy smile crossing her face as she realizes that the biggest problems looming over her was pretty much taken care of in one fell swoop and not knowing how or why.

Starting to walk with an almost bounce in her step, Buffy grins from ear to ear.  Almost jogging up the steps, she lets herself into the house, sighing as she realizes it is her house now.  Not the mortgage company’s, and not about to be foreclosed on her for the money owed.  “YES!”  Buffy yells loudly and starts laughing as she does a little happy dance.

***

Willow jumps as she hears Buffy yell.  Hurrying out of her room and down the stairs she stares in disbelief as Buffy does an impromptu dance in the living room.  “What has you so happy?”

Buffy grins, grabbing Willow in her arms and dancing around the room with her.  “Money from heaven…”  Buffy sings off key and hums before laughing again. 

“Buffy!  Put me down, you nut.”  Willow laughs at her happy friend. 

“Money… account… house paid off….”  Buffy hugs Willow before setting her down on her feet and running to the phone as a thought occurs to her, somewhat shocked at the possibility but having to call. 

Willow stands in shock as Buffy’s words finally make sense to her.  “Money from heaven?  She received enough money to pay off the house?”  Willow chuckles quietly as she slowly walks into the kitchen, watching as Buffy bounces on the balls of her feet.

“Yeah?”  Faith grumbles into the phone, rubbing her eyes as Tara whimpers softly and rubs her face over her chest before falling back asleep.  Smiling at her lover, Faith gently rubs her back. 

“I want the truth from you.  Since I know the Council got you out and told you to come here, you’re obviously on speaking terms with them.  Did you talk to them about giving me money?”  Buffy hurriedly asks her eyes closed as she ignores everything but the sounds coming over the phone, her answer in the sharp inhale of breath coming from Faith.  “Why?”

Willow shifts her hand to steady herself against the wall as she realizes who Buffy’s obviously talking to, deciding to listen more intently to the conversation.

“B…”  Faith shifts the phone to a more comfortable spot, and sighs quietly.  “It ain’t right.  They’re helpin’ me out with my expenses and I told ‘em their asses needed to make things right for you.  That’s all I did, it ain’t that much of a big.”

“Yeah, it was.”  Buffy smiles and leans against the wall.  “Thank you.  You didn’t have to talk to them about me, and I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, well forget it.  Like I said, it ain’t that much of a big.  I just talked to ‘em is all, B.”  Faith shifts slightly, becoming uncomfortable.  “Look, just pay off your bills and get a fuckin’ job that you ain’t gonna smell like a grease factory.  That’s all I care about.  Hell, bouncing is a pretty good gig, might wanna look into it.  I gotta go.”  Faith hurriedly hangs up, before Buffy can say anything else. 

“Damn you.”  Buffy chuckles softly as she pulls the phone away from her ear.  Having heard the uncomfortable note in the slayer’s tones before she practically hung up on her.  Tensing slightly as she hears the quiet whimper behind her.  Cursing her own stupidity, Buffy plays over the conversation in her mind, knowing if Willow had heard the beginning of the conversation that she would definitely figure out who she was talking to.  The redhead was definitely smart and there is probably no way she can talk her into believing she was talking to someone else.  Taking a deep breath she slowly turns to face Willow.

Willow shakes as she stares at Buffy.  “Tell me she isn’t here.  Tell me that murdering bitch is not out of jail and here in Sunnydale.”

Buffy winces at the paleness of Willow, knowing the woman is obviously still afraid of Faith, besides the fact she has some serious issues with the slayer, not that she blames her, but…  Taking a deep breath, Buffy cautiously approaches Willow.  “I know you two will probably never be friends.”  Buffy starts softly, in a low calm voice, while mentally rolling her eyes at the thought of Tara now being with Faith, knowing there would be no way in hell Willow would ever accept the slayer with that happening.  “But she’s been back for over five months.”

“Five months?!”  Willow starts to hyperventilate, staring in shock at Buffy. 

“Easy, Willow.”  Buffy urges the redhead to a chair, making her sit down.  Opening the refrigerator and grabbing a couple bottles of water out, she takes her time trying to think of what to say to her friend.  “Here.”  Buffy twists off the top and sets it down in front of Willow before leaning against the side of the island, playing with the label on her bottle after twisting her cap off.  “As soon as she arrived in town, she called me to let me know she was here, Willow.  She’s been working here in town and been patrolling every night.  I threatened her when she called, telling her I didn’t want her here and that I wanted her to stay away from my friends and family.  I didn’t hear from her again for a couple months, though I could tell she’d been patrolling.”

“So, what?  Is she like being all goody two shoes, now?  That murdering bitch should be put out of everyone’s misery and let a new slayer be called.”  Willow practically snarls, the anger replacing the fear she’d been feeling.

“She’s served her time, Willow!  She’s working and patrolling.  Hell, even the Council that was willing to take her out is giving her another chance.  I don’t expect you to be buddy-buddy with her.  Hell, I don’t even expect you to talk to her, but can you just think about the fact that she’s been on her best behavior since being here?  She even talked with the Council about sending me money!  Enough money to pay off the house and catch up on all the past due bills, bills that have been piling up for a long time!”  Buffy waves her hand around her eyes serious as she looks at Willow.  “Please, Willow.  Just try.  She fucked up before.  She knows it and she wouldn’t do it again if she had it to do over.”

“I’ll never forgive her, Buffy.  NEVER!  How you can obviously talk with her and be around her, I don’t know.  Did you forget what she did to you?  When she switched bodies with you and fucked Riley?  How about when she held me at knifepoint?  Is that all so easily forgotten and forgiven?”  Willow growls angrily at Buffy.

Buffy winces at the venom in Willow’s tones.  “No, Willow.  It’s not all so easily forgotten or forgiven.  But I have forgiven her, Willow.  I know a little better what went on then and I can look past it.  It doesn’t make things right, but I’m willing to forgive her.  I remember a couple people that were willing to forgive me for shit that I pulled.  Or have you forgotten me running away?  Hiding Angel?  Being a bitch to you by fucking with Xander’s mind when I knew you liked him?  Want me to go on, Willow?  We’ve all done things that we’re not proud of.  Want me to rattle off some of the shit you’ve done?”  Buffy finally growls the words at the redhead, losing her temper as all she gets in return is a stubborn look.  “Admittedly we never did anything as bad as Faith, but DAMN IT!  We forgive each other and go on, we don’t keep bringing it up to throw in each other’s face.  Faith’s done her time and is making amends.  Whether you believe her, or not, forgive her, or not is entirely up to you.  But I have forgiven her, and actually consider her a friend now.”

Willow watches in stunned shock as Buffy finally strides angrily out of the kitchen.  Having flinched at Buffy’s comment about what she’d done in the past and when she’d thrown it in her face that she had done stuff, she silently wonders what exactly Buffy’s talking about.  Not able to let it go, not able to think of anything she’s done, she runs after the slayer.  Taking the stairs two at a time to barge into Buffy’s room.  “I haven’t done anything!!!  What the hell do you think I’ve done that you can throw in my face?”

Buffy blinks in shock at the redhead.  “You can’t believe…”  Buffy shakes her head and laughs.  “How about the fact that you almost fucked Xander while you were with Oz?  That ring a bell?  How about the fact that you hid Tara from all of us for how long before you admitted you liked her AFTER Oz came back?  Wanna discuss the fact that you helped ‘nudge’ Dawn towards the spell to bring mom back?  How about what you did to Tara?”  Buffy’s eyes darken with anger.  “How about bringing me back from heaven?  And you want to say you haven’t done anything?  None of us are perfect Willow!  NONE OF US!”

Willow falls back against the door frame in shock.  “But… but I didn’t mean to do any of those things.  Except…”  Willow trails off, her face pale.

“And you think Faith meant to stake the Deputy Mayor?  NO!  From there it spiraled out of control for her.  She’s spent the last two years in jail.  Do you think she had to turn herself in?  Do you think a jail would actually be able to hold a slayer?  Jesus, Willow!  Use that damn brain from hell for a moment and think things through!  If she had wanted to actually cut your throat, don’t you think she would have?”  Buffy’s voice is rough.  “I’ve had a chance to think things through a bit here recently.  And you know… I honestly believe she wanted us to stop the Ascension.  I’m not going to ask her, because it’s over and done with.  But if she had truly wanted you dead, she would have killed you.”

Willow pales at Buffy’s words, shaking her head in disbelief.  Not knowing whether to believe Buffy or to ignore everything the slayer is saying, wondering for the slayer’s sanity for a few minutes before she sees the seriousness in Buffy’s eyes along with the sadness. 

“I can probably talk till I’m blue in the face, but I’m finished, Willow.  Either you can deal, or not deal.  But personally I consider her a friend now.  And eventually I plan on inviting her here to visit and possibly have dinner occasionally, since that’s what friends do.  So, if you decide you can’t handle that, you have a choice to make.”  Buffy wearily sits down on her bed, starting to feel drained from all the ups and downs of the day.  Looking sadly at Willow as she looks questioningly at her, Buffy shakes her head.  “You can disappear when she comes here, or you can move out.  The choice is yours.  But I do plan on having her here.  Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get cleaned up and grab something to eat before taking a nap before patrol tonight.”

Feeling a slight thread of fear going through her, knowing that ultimately this could potentially be the end of her friendship with Buffy, Willow nods and slowly leaves Buffy’s room to think things through.

Buffy sighs as Willow leaves, her eyes shadowed as she didn’t want to be so brutal to the redhead, but ultimately having lost her temper when Willow literally shut down and wasn’t listening to what she had to say, and then when she didn’t believe that she had done anything wrong in the past.  Buffy shakes her head in disbelief.  “Where do we go from here?”  Buffy whispers, silently wondering what turns their lives are going to take now.

***

“Who was on the phone?”  Tara mumbles, slowly waking up, remembering the phone ringing and Faith talking to someone.  Brushing her cheek over Faith’s breast, Tara keeps her eyes closed and smiles at Faith’s fingers gently drawing circles on her back. 

“B.  She kinda figured out I musta had somethin’ to do with the money that got deposited in her account.”  Faith wiggles a little, still feeling uncomfortable about the things the blonde slayer said, honestly not thinking what she’d done was that big of a deal. 

Tara chuckles quietly.  “Buffy’s a lot smarter than she likes to act like she is.  Kind of like some other slayer I know.”  Tara lifts her head and presses a quick kiss to Faith’s chin.  “Be back in a couple minutes.”

Faith blushes lightly at Tara’s words while her eyes follow Tara to the bathroom, enjoying the sight of the Wiccan striding easily through the apartment without any clothes on.  Easing out of the bed, Faith heads toward the refrigerator and grabs a couple waters and sets them on the table.  Heading towards the bathroom when Tara comes out, she smiles as Tara stops her and kisses her softly. 

“Hmmm.”  Tara murmurs as she releases Faith’s lips, blinking slightly.  “Do you still want to order something to be delivered for dinner tonight?”

“Yeah.  No sense in cooking, we can just have pizza and wings delivered if that sounds good to you.”  Faith smiles as Tara grins crookedly at her.  “Why don’t you go ahead and order a couple pizzas and fixings while I hit the bathroom.”

“Assortment?”  Tara questions as she heads to the phone, smiling as Faith just laughs.  Nodding her head and rolling her eyes at her lover, Tara punches in the speed dial and quickly places an order, looking out at the night approaching after disconnecting the phone and setting it down.  Leaning back into Faith as she steps up behind her and hugs her gently. 

“What’cha thinkin’ about?”  Faith nuzzles into Tara neck, loving the scent of the woman and how she smells lightly of sex, planning on her reeking of it before the night’s through. 

Tara rests her arms over Faith’s, closing her eyes to the loving kisses.  “Night’s coming on.”  Tara murmurs softly, knowing that Faith will be going out to do a patrol in a little while.

“Yeah.”  Faith nibbles gently across Tara’s shoulder, grinning as Tara shivers and goose bumps come up on her body.  “Would ya’ like to keep me company?”

“Yes.”  Tara smiles at the offer, slightly surprised, knowing her lover still hates to have her out at night. 

Resting her chin on Tara’s shoulder, Faith tilts her head to lean it against her lover’s as she looks out the sliding glass doors.  “Is that what you were thinkin’ about?  Night?”

Tara chuckles and slowly shakes her head.  “I was just wondering if you would mind if I moved in before the end of the school year.”

“Shit, let’s go get your stuff now.”  Faith hugs Tara tightly, grinning as Tara laughs before becoming serious.  “Babe, I want you here with me all the time, that’ll make me a very, very happy slayer if you go ahead and move in.”

“Tomorrow?”  Tara offers, turning her head to press a soft kiss against Faith’s cheek, keeping her eyes closed and her lips against the warm soft flesh as she feels it move under her lips as Faith smiles.

“Tomorrow morning.”  Faith presses her cheek more firmly into Tara’s soft caress.

“I was thinking about afternoon.  Want to have warm sleepy lovings tomorrow morning.”  Tara chuckles quietly at the low groan coming from her lover. 

Turning her head, Faith captures full pouty lips with hers and kisses Tara, letting the passion build slowly as she searches within Tara’s mouth. 

Whimpering softly as Faith slowly ends the kiss with a couple of soft gentle presses against her lips, Tara tilts her forehead against her.  “Goddess.  Does anyone have the slightest clue how gentle and tender you can be?”

“Don’t think so.”  Faith sighs quietly.  “I never really was before, T-Bear.  You know I pretty much took my pleasure where I wanted.  If they couldn’t perform, I’d kick their asses out and take care of it myself.  Hell, even if they could, their asses still got kicked out.”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but did any of your past lover’s touch your heart, Faith?”  Tara questions softly.

Faith gently strokes her fingers over Tara’s stomach and thinks about her lover’s question.  Understanding what she’s really trying to say, if she actually ever cared for anyone on a deeper level.  “Maybe when I first got here, I mighta let B in if things hadn’t gone so wrong, so quickly, and if she’d been interested.  But there ain’t been nobody else.”

Tara blinks in surprise at Faith’s words.  She never would have thought about the possibility of Faith and Buffy, though she could see where Faith would be interested in the petite blonde slayer, but the two women so far apart in temperament that it’s hard to picture.  Chuckling quietly as it occurs to her, that they were probably more alike than she and Faith were.  Relaxing more into Faith’s strong arms, Tara strokes her fingers gently over the muscular forearms.  “I could never picture Buffy with a woman, not after seeing the way she was with Riley, but Willow swore up and down that there was something going on between you two.”

Faith grunts quietly.  “I might have had somethin’ to do with that.”  She admits shifting slightly as a streak of guilt works its way through her.  Not even having to look at Tara, she knows her lover’s wanting an explanation.  “I kinda alluded to the fact that B and I were intimate when I held Red captive.  She had such a fuckin’ crush on B and neither of ‘em even noticed it that I knew it’d bug the fuckin’ hell out of her.”  Faith drops her forehead on Tara’s shoulder.  “She’s got good reason to hate me, T-Bear.  They all fuckin’ do.  And I ain’t stupid, I know the only reason B’s givin’ me a chance is ‘cause you stuck up for me.  And I appreciate you doin’ that.” 

“I didn’t do it just for you, Faith.”  Tara admits quietly, sighing softly.

“I know, T-Bear.  I know.  They have this thing for forgivin’ each other for shit or overlookin’ it, but whenever it’s someone outta their group they have a hard time dealin’.”  Faith gently squeezes Tara as there’s a knock at the door.  “Either climb in bed, or disappear.  Don’t wanna give the pizza boy that kinda tip.”  Faith smirks as Tara chuckles quietly and heads for the bed.  Grabbing a pair of shorts and t-shirt, Faith yanks them on quickly while striding towards the front door, picking up the cash on the stand she keeps by the door just for such purposes.

Tara grins crookedly as Faith glances back towards her before opening the door.  As Faith pays for and accepts the pizza’s, shutting the door with her foot, Tara throws off the covers and trots to her to help carry some of the food.

“Shit, what now?”  Faith growls, dropping the food on the table before heading towards her phone glancing at the caller ID and rolling her eyes.  “Yeah, B?”

Tara looks curiously over at Faith as she hears a low, heartfelt ‘shit’ come from her before she disconnects the phone and slams it back into the base. 

“B’s comin’ over.  Seems her and Red had a blow-up and B’s wantin’ to blow off steam.”  Faith strips off her shirt and shorts, tossing them onto the bed as she digs out a pair of jeans, shirt and socks. 

“She told Willow about you being here?”  Tara approaches Faith as her lover yanks on her clothes.  Reaching down to pick her clothes up and slowly dressing. 

“I guess.  She just said that Red knows I’m here, and that it was her own fuckin’ stupidity to make it happen different than she was plannin’.  Then she said she was gonna come over to try and work through some of her anger.”  Faith shrugs sitting down on the edge of the bed as she pulls on her socks. 

Tara flinches slightly and hesitantly sits down beside Faith, unconsciously twisting her shirt in her hands until Faith places a hand over hers and squeezes gently.

“What’s wrong?”  Faith looks into worried blue eyes, wondering where the worry’s coming from.

“She… she isn’t planning on you two fighting, is she?”  Tara hesitantly questions.

“Huh?”  Faith blinks as she plays over Tara’s question in her mind trying to figure out why the witch would think that. 

“You s-said she was needing to b-blow off steam, and work through h-her anger.”  Tara’s hands flinch uncontrollably as she draws in on herself.

“Shit!  No, Tare.  Not like that.  She’s wantin’ someone to bitch to, that she ain’t gotta worry about what she says.  Get the shit off her chest.  The physical shit she’ll take out on the demons.”  Faith explains hurriedly, wrapping her arms around Tara and hugging her to her tightly.  Really not liking the fact that Tara’s stuttering, only remembering Tara doing it the once since she’d been around the Wiccan other than her original meeting with her, or when Willow is brought up. 

Tara slowly relaxes as one of Faith’s hands stay wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly while the other one strokes tenderly over her head and down her back in a soothing gesture. 

“I shoulda phrased that better.  I’m sorry.”  Faith whispers, pressing her lips to Tara’s head, knowing about Tara’s past, and the beatings she’d taken from her father and brother, Tara finally explaining that it was more than what she had originally admitted to.  The woman’s natural shying away of the real physical abuse understandable.  Though she has shown that she’s becoming more acclimated to and understanding the differences of actual abuse and the pleasurable pain that happens at the bar.

“It isn’t your fault, Faith.  Just my mind thinking the worse.”  Tara shifts her cheek against Faith’s upper chest and pressing her lips to the cloth covered flesh.  “I better get dressed.  Don’t think Buffy would deal well with seeing a partially naked me when she comes in the apartment.”

Faith chuckles wickedly.  “She’ll see more than that, if she has balls enough to show up at the bar.”

Tara laughs at the thought.  “I can’t see her there.”

Faith slowly releases Tara watching as her lover finishes getting dressed.  Sighing quietly, Faith stands up and quickly fixes the bed. 

***

Chapter 13

Tara rubs a hand over her forehead as Buffy finishes telling them pretty much word for word what happened with Willow earlier.  Pushing her plate away, losing her appetite after only eating half a slice, Tara leans back in her chair.

Faith starts to say something to Tara, until she sees the worried, pale face of her lover, knowing if she pushes the blonde, she’d be just as likely to throw the food back up, than being able to keep it down.  “Did she say anythin’ to ya’ before you left?” 

Buffy shakes her head, poking at the piece of pizza in front of her as she pulls a piece of sausage off it.  “No.  She was in her room and wouldn’t answer my knock.”

“B, I don’t wanna come between you guys.”  Faith drops her fork on the table and stands, striding to the sliding glass doors, opening them to step outside. 

Buffy’s shoulders slump as she looks from Faith’s stiff back to Tara’s worried eyes.

“She’s going to hate her even m-more with us being together.”  Tara whispers, tears filling her eyes. 

“Don’t tell her.”  Buffy offers, seeing Tara shake her head almost vehemently. 

Faith silently listens to Buffy and Tara, waiting to see if Tara will finally change her mind.

“No.  I can’t, Buffy.  Not just can’t, I won’t do that to Faith.  I love her, and I’ll never treat her like a dirty secret, or like she isn’t good enough.  I can never hide her away.  She deserves to be loved for who she is.  Because the good and the bad of her past has made her what she is today, just like the past has made me who I am and who you are.”  The words are passionate as they come from Tara, her feelings undeniable. 

Faith eases down onto one knee beside Tara after striding quickly back into the apartment.  Reaching up to brush the tears flowing silently down Tara’s face, Faith sighs and looks over at Buffy.  “We’ll keep an extra eye out for Red.  There ain’t much we can do.  And I ain’t gonna give up T-Bear.” 

Tara closes her eyes and leans into Faith as she shifts to stand by her, wrapping her arm around her.  “I’ll give W-w-willow a little while to get used to Faith being here.  Then I’ll see about meeting her and talking to her.  Hopefully get her to understand that we’ll never be a couple again.  I’ll take it from there, if she asks me about my having a girlfriend, I’ll answer her questions, but I won’t offer anything.”

“That’d probably be for the best.”  Faith whispers as she gently runs her fingers through Tara’s soft blonde hair.  “And I’ll be somewhere close by, just in case.”

Tara sighs, hearing the tone in Faith’s words, knowing there will be no arguing with her about this point. 

“And maybe I’ll be right there with you as additional back-up.”  Buffy murmurs not really liking how Willow reacted earlier.  The redhead having a problem with seeing her own mistakes and shortcomings really not sitting well with her.  “Look, I’ve got the urge to beat up on some demons.  I just needed to get what happened off my chest.  You two have a quiet night, okay?”  Buffy smiles quickly at Faith and Tara before turning to head towards the door.

Tara looks up questioningly at Faith.  “Can I still go with you on patrol?  Maybe the three of us out together wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Faith nods silently in agreement.  “Wait up, B.  We’re coming with.”

Buffy stops at the door and turns around to look at the two women, having a feeling there was more of a conversation that went on, than what she’d heard.  “Look, I know you two don’t get to spend much time together, between school and work…”

“We’re going with, B.”  Faith growls softly at the blonde slayer.  Having seen the worried look in Tara’s eyes and understanding that she didn’t want Buffy out by herself tonight with what happened.  “Plus, ya’ can buy me and T-Bear a hot chocolate while we’re out.”

“Hot chocolate?”  Buffy has to grin at the concept of Faith drinking hot chocolate.

“No skimping on the marshmallows, either.”  Faith slides on a jacket, after hooking the short sword in it.  Tara having been getting on her lately about only going out with a couple stakes.  Having to admit that having the sword has come in handy on more than one occasion. 

Tara slides on her fanny pack even as she accepts the two stakes Faith hands her, tucking them into her cargo pants pockets along with tucking the knife away in the back of her waist band.

“Maybe we should hit the warehouse district then, since we’re all together.”  Buffy gives in, knowing that she doesn’t have much of a choice as Faith and Tara stride towards her.

“Nah.  We usually cover that part of town.  We just cleared it out not long ago, and haven’t caught anyone tryin’ to set up shop there again, yet.”  Faith makes sure the door locks behind her, before the three women head for the stairs.  Buffy leading with Tara in the middle as Faith brings up the rear.

“Damn slayer.”  Tara growls quietly under her breath, remembering how Faith was going to go to the warehouse by herself when they first met up.  Seeing Buffy tossing a curious look over her shoulder at her as they turn to go down the next flight of stairs, Tara rolls her eyes and explains what Faith had intended on doing, ignoring the quiet bitching coming from behind her. 

“Jesus, Faith!!  That’s asking to be killed!”  Buffy pushes open the door out onto the street, turning to glare at the dark-haired slayer, seeing the somewhat guilty look cross her face before it disappears quickly.  Realizing in that instant that Faith probably had wanted to call it quits.  “Shit!”  Buffy looks up at the dark night to take a deep breath before shaking off the thoughts going through her head.  “Will you even consider doing something so asinine again?”

“No.”  Faith basically whispers the word, knowing Buffy had seen the guilty look before she could conceal it.  Tara already knowing about it and still getting pissed off at the thought.  Actually even more pissed off recently since they’d become closer, than she was when it happened.  Seeing the look on her lover’s face, Faith tucks her hands in her pockets and hunches her shoulders slightly feeling guilty for the anger, pain and worry in Tara’s eyes.

Tara sighs quietly, stepping up beside Faith, threading her arm through the crook of Faith’s arm and pressing a quick kiss on her cheek.  “I know you won’t do something like that again, Faith.  I trust you to think before you act… to a certain degree.”  Tara jokes softly, trying to get Faith to look at her, not liking it when the slayer becomes quiet or feels the guilt for past actions. 

Faith slowly raises her eyes sighing quietly as she sees the worry and love in Tara’s beautiful blue eyes.  Pressing a quick kiss to pouty lips, Faith pulls her hand out of her pocket and threads her fingers together with Tara’s as the three women slowly work on doing a thorough patrol.

***

“We’re gonna walk ya’ to your street.”  Faith argues again with Buffy, Tara standing to the side as the two slayers practically bristle as they argue over the fact that Faith wasn’t willing to just let Buffy walk back to her house by herself.  They had run into two rather large groups of vampires roving Sunnydale, along with the normal newly risen and the few by themselves.  If either slayer had been by themselves the groups probably wouldn’t have been able to take out either slayer, but they would have probably hurt them. 

“And what if Willow’s out and about, or looking for me?”  Buffy growls as she gets right in Faith’s face.

“I ain’t fuckin’ walkin’ ya’ to the door and givin’ you a fuckin’ kiss goodnight, you dumb ass.  We’re just walking ya’ to the end of your street and makin’ sure that you get in okay, before heading back to the apartment.”  Faith growls loudly ignoring the quiet chuckle coming from Tara.

“Maybe that’s what she’s wanting, a good night kiss.”  Tara starts laughing, finally relaxing as the two slayers turn to look at her incredulously.  “She’s a damn good kisser, Buffy.”

Faith narrows her eyes on Tara, seeing the glimmer of amusement in the blue depths.  “Pawnin’ me off, are ya’?”

Tara’s eyes crinkle with merriment as she looks at her lover.  “Just remembering something someone said earlier today.”

Faith growls playfully at Tara, while Buffy looks from one woman to the other trying to figure out what they’re talking about.  “That ship done sailed.  Got what I want, and I ain’t willin’ to fuck it up.”

“Good.”  Tara accepts the tight hug from Faith as the slayer wraps her arms around her and nibbles gently on her neck.  “Let’s take Buffy home, that way we can go home and play.”

“Get your ass movin’, B.  Got places to go and Wiccan to see.”  Faith leers at Tara, before laughing as her lover lightly smacks her on the arm. 

“I don’t know about you two.”  Buffy finally gives up, knowing this isn’t an argument she’s going to win.  Not with both women ganging up on her. 

The women walk quietly towards Revello Drive, slowing down as they turn the corner. 

Faith looks at Buffy for a second then looks down at the sidewalk, kicking at a stone.  “Look B, if she gives ya’ shit you can come by the apartment.  The couch ain’t too bad to sleep on.”

Tara gently squeezes Faith’s waist, the slayer’s offer coming from her heart.

Buffy stares in surprise at Faith, before slowly smiling.  “Thanks, Faith.  I’ll keep that in mind.”

Faith shifts uncomfortably at the thanks as Buffy pats her on the shoulder before jogging down the street towards her house. 

“You keep doing nice things, you’re going to have to get used to that.”  Tara comments intuitively.

Faith blushes lightly and shakes her head.  “Ain’t used to it, T-Bear.  Being thanked and treated like this is weird.”

Tara smiles softly at the slayer.  The Bad Ass, Rogue Slayer that gets embarrassed and blushes when she’s thanked or treated like a person, instead of a possession or thing.  Her heart expanding even more with the love she feels for the dark-haired woman standing in front of her makes Tara close her eyes for a second.  Gently reaching up with a hand to either cheek, Tara urges Faith to look up from where she was concentrating on the ground again.  “You’re a wonderful, caring woman, Faith.  I love you.”  Tara whispers with utmost sincerity before capturing the slayer’s full bow-shaped lips with hers.

Faith moans quietly into the soft, loving kiss as Tara slowly deepens it, her tongue lazily searching out her mouth like she has all the time in the world and is planning on taking in all the different textures and flavors available.  Grasping Tara’s hips, Faith pulls her tightly against her, loving the feel of Tara’s body against hers, the slight height difference in Faith’s favor barely noticeable. 

Panting heavily as she breaks the kiss, Tara tilts her head against Faith’s, smiling as Faith’s hot breaths caresses over her lips.  “Don’t think this is the best place to be making out.”

“Probably not.”  Faith agrees, letting her fingers caress over Tara’s hips from where she’d been grasping them firmly.  “Let’s go home.” 

Tara leans into the slayer as she wraps her arm around her shoulder and urges her back towards town and their apartment.

***

Buffy glances back down the street, smiling at the sight of the two women embracing and kissing each other like there’s no tomorrow.  Sighing quietly at the beautiful sight, she turns and strides up the walkway.  Pulling her keys out, she unlocks the door entering the house and locking it back behind her. 

Stiffening as she hears movement in the living room, Buffy takes a deep breath, surprised that Willow’s still awake with it being almost two in the morning. 

Willow turns to look towards the hallway as she hears Buffy enter the house and lock the door behind her.  Clenching her jaw tightly, she watches as Buffy walks into the room, her face shut down.  Not able to see what the slayer is thinking, Willow crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture.  “Were you patrolling with her?”

Buffy quirks an eyebrow at the question before slowly taking her weapons from the various hiding places, setting them on the coffee table.  “Not that it matters, but yes.  I was doing a patrol with Faith tonight.  There were actually two large groups of vampires that were canvassing Sunnydale and it was a good thing we were together.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.”  Willow snarks turning away from Buffy.

Buffy snatches her head up to look at Willow in confusion.  “What?”

“Come on!  I know you and Faith had a thing going on back in high school.”  Willow’s hands start waving around feeling like her world’s falling apart.  “You two were practically inseparable there for a while.  And she taunted me when she held me captive with what you two did.”

Buffy rolls her eyes and shakes her head.  Faith having already admitted to her what she’d told Willow while they were out on patrol tonight.  She’d actually laughed when Faith admitted it, surprising the slayer.  “Yeah, I know all about what she told you, Willow.  God forbid, she did it to piss you off.  That never occurred to you, did it?  If I wanted to sleep with a woman, it wouldn’t have been Faith.  Not then.  I was, and am looking for a more serious relationship than she would have provided at that time.”

Willow stops dead from where she’d been fidgeting nervously at the matter of fact words coming from Buffy.  “Then?  But now…?” 

Buffy shrugs and heads towards the kitchen, not wanting to tell Willow that Faith had a girlfriend already, that might lead to more questions as to whom it is and she knows she’s not the best liar in the world. 

Willow trots after Buffy as the slayer doesn’t answer her question.  “Are you seeing her now?”  Willow questions, her voice almost squeaking on the words.

“Yeah, I’m seeing her, Willow.  We just did patrol together.”  Buffy pulls a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, twisting off the cap and sipping it.

“DAMN IT!  Are you two dating each other?  Sleeping together?  Fucking each other?  I think it’s pretty strange that she’s been here in town for this long and you haven’t told anyone!!!  Is she your little secret plaything?”  Willow questions hoarsely, her eyes flashing.

Buffy snaps her head around to stare at Willow.  “No, Willow.  That’s your gig, not mine.  Not anymore.  If I’m seeing someone, whether it be man, woman, vampire or whatever, I won’t hide it.  It ain’t worth the heartache and trouble it causes, not anymore.”

Willow jerks back as if she’s been slapped.  “I wasn’t hiding her.”

“Really?  How long did you know Tara and were more or less dating before we found out?  And would we have found out, if your hand wasn’t tipped?”  Buffy tilts her head staring at her best friend.

Willow pales and looks away, feeling a streak of guilt shooting through her as she realizes Buffy has a point.  She probably would have continued to hide her relationship with Tara even longer, if things hadn’t played out the way they had.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.  Willow, Tara is a loving, kind woman.  She deserves better than that.  She’s been there for all of us at one time or another, do you think what you’ve done to her is right?  How would you feel if your roles had been reversed?  What if Tara had done a spell on you?”  Buffy sees the shock crossing Willow’s face.  “Yeah, I know about what you did, Will.  Tara and I have become close friends lately.  Luckily enough she was willing to take me back after I pretty much treated her like shit by not checking on her and just visiting her, without an ulterior motive.  That’s what friends do.  I got so tied up in my own life, and problems I didn’t even notice she was fading away.  Did you know she probably lost almost fifty pounds?  She’s doing a lot better now, but she’s still on the skinny side.”

Willow stumbles slightly at the thought as she finally leans back against the wall, feeling physically ill at the thought of Tara wasting away.  Having noticed that the woman seemed skinnier when she’d seen her on campus, but whenever she’d tried to approach Tara, the witch had turned and headed in the other direction.  “I didn’t know… she won’t talk to me or let me anywhere near her.”  Willow admits softly, slowly sliding down the wall and pulling her knees against her chest as she rests her forehead on her knees.

Buffy sighs quietly and slowly drops down on her haunches to look at Willow.  “Willow, you hurt her.  And she may one day be able to forgive you, but she won’t ever be able to be with you again.  You do understand that, don’t you?”

Willow looks up with haunted eyes.  “Why not?  I won’t do it again.”

“How many times did you do a spell on her, Willow?  The one time that backfired and the other time that she’s aware of.  Do you realize she trusted you, loved you and then you went in to play with her memories?  Do you even think about the fact that what you did was worse than what Glory did to her?  Being someone that she trusted and doing that to her, hurt her deeply.”  Buffy tries to explain quietly to Willow, her eyes sad as she realizes how much Willow had hurt the blonde. 

Willow plucks at the material of her jeans, not looking at Buffy as what she did slowly settles inside her.  The slayer’s calm words bringing it home to her more than anything else has.  Not realizing how much she’d hurt Tara, but as she remembers how Tara explained to her about her controlling father and brother, how they tried to keep her under their influence, she feels physically ill that she did the same thing.  Just with magic, instead of violence.  As a hard sob escapes her lips, she drops her head onto her knees and starts to cry.  “I lost her, didn’t I?”  She questions between sobs, not even daring to look at Buffy.

“Yeah, you did.”  Buffy eases down to sit beside her best friend, resting her hand on Willow’s shaking back as it finally sinks in that she wasn’t getting Tara back. 

“Is she seeing the other woman?”  Willow finally questions roughly a half hour later as she gets control of her tears as Buffy gently rubs her back. 

Buffy stops her comforting motion, not knowing whether she should answer that question or not.

Willow turns her head to look at Buffy, she sighs quietly as she knows the answer without Buffy having to say anything.  “How long have they been dating?”

Buffy looks down and shakes her head.  “I guess a few months, more or less.”

“Is, is she nice to her?”  Willow hesitantly questions.

Buffy has to smile at the thought.  “Yes, she is.  She’ll do anything for Tara, and practically worships the ground she walks on.”

Leaning against Buffy, Willow rests her head on her best friends shoulder.  “I’m sorry, Buffy.  I’m sorry for all the shit I’ve done, and what’s even worse is that I didn’t even realize what I was doing.  How could I…”  Willow’s shoulders slump even more, trying to think how she got from being the shy computer hacker to the all-powerful, never wrong person she is.  And how wrong she actually is.  “I’ve fucked up.  Badly.  I.. I know she doesn’t want to see me or talk to me, but next time you see her, could you tell her I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”  Buffy hugs Willow tightly.  “Give her time, Willow.  Time and space, you know she’ll forgive you, it’s not in her to hold a grudge.”

“No, it’s not.  But she’s also a very stubborn woman.  Once she makes up her mind, it’s made up.  No changing it.”  Willow admits, a soft smile of remembrance coming across her face at how stubborn her ex-lover could be when provoked.  Knowing that Tara’s mind is made up not to come back to her, unless she wants to go completely evil and give up all her hard-earned ground from cleaning her act up, she’ll never have Tara again.  And that is something that is not an option.  She mentally growls to herself, not wanting to be that person anymore.

“Come on, Wills.  It’s almost three in the morning.  Let’s get some sleep.”  Buffy hops up gently pulling Willow to her feet.

“Did she really contact the Council for you?”  Willow’s mind hits on what Buffy had said earlier on the phone while talking to Faith.

Buffy blinks in confusion, feeling a surge of worry until she realizes Willow hasn’t put together that Tara and Faith are together, just that Willow’s busy mind is jumping all over the place like it normally does.  “Yeah, she did.  And a real interesting thing is the fact that Faith can actually blush.”  Buffy smirks at the remembrance of seeing the slayer blushing and grumbling about leaving it alone.

“She blushes?”  Willow blinks at the un-believability of that comment. 

“She doesn’t like being thanked.”  Buffy shrugs, laughing quietly as she follows Willow up the stairs.  “She has changed, Willow.  She knows you two will never be best buds and she understands that.  But she wants you to know she regrets the things she’s done and said to you in the past.”

Willow stops at the threshold to her room.  “I need to think about things, Buff.”  Willow turns to look at Buffy, searching the slayer’s hazel eyes, seeing the understanding there.  “I’m sorry for the pain and heartache I’ve caused by my actions.  Maybe I should use this a little more.”  Willow taps the side of her head, smiling sadly at Buffy. 

“Or maybe not so much?”  Buffy quirks her lip up in a half smile, relaxing a little as Willow laughs quietly. 

“You may have a point.”  Willow impulsively hugs Buffy.  Closing her eyes as Buffy hugs her back.  “Thanks for making me see some of the shit I’ve done and pulled.  I have a lot of deep soul searching to do, and eventually a lot of apologizing.”

“We’re friends, Willow.  No matter what happens, we are friends.”  Buffy whispers, patting Willow’s back before releasing the redhead.

“Thank you.”  Willow smiles before stepping back into the room.  “’Night.”

“’Night, Wills.”  Buffy smiles softly before turning to head towards her room, sighing in relief that Willow’s calmed down, hoping internally that she can stay that way once she realizes Faith and Tara were together, the smile dropping off her face at the thought.  Sending up a silent prayer to the PTB that they’ll help Willow with her anger when that day comes.  Taking a deep breath, she grabs her items to take a shower before crashing for the night, her mind on the thought that she can actually look for a better job now, the smile coming back.

***

Chapter 14

“Oh, SHIT!”  Faith bolts up, awakening as the dream she was having causes her to have an orgasm, it taking her a few minutes to realize that there’s giggling and an extremely talented mouth and tongue teasing her body, not letting her calm down as Tara works on bringing her to another climax in short order.  “Tara…”  Faith whimpers, falling back on the bed, pushing her hips into Tara’s mouth as another climax flows through her.

Tara licks her lips, smiling up at Faith as the slayer tosses the covers off them to look down at her with dark brown eyes trying to focus on her. “Relax.”  Tara orders softly, reaching up to push gently against Faith’s chest as the slayer had propped up her upper body with her elbows.

Faith groans and falls back on the bed, closing her eyes enjoying the attention she’s receiving from her lover as gentle fingers glide over her body, touching her with fleeting, teasing touches.  Arching as Tara’s tongue glides between her inner lips to dip into her opening, Faith clenches the pillow under her head, grasping it tightly at the feel of the strong muscle wiggling inside her.

“Goddess, taste so good.”  Tara breathes heavily as she drags in some much needed oxygen before diving back in to enjoy Faith more, the slayer not letting her return the favor last night with it being late by the time Faith had spent a couple hours bringing her to multiple climaxes.  As Faith shifts her legs, digging her heels into the bed while spreading her body open further to her, Tara nibbles on her bottom lip as she looks at the clenching body of her lover even as the desire trickles from her.  Inhaling deeply of the slayer’s unique scent, Tara trails her fingers from where she’d been clenching the slayer’s thigh, smiling as the strong muscles flinch under her fingers, finally circling her lover’s opening for a few minutes while Faith growls softly, Tara grins crookedly at the impatience in that growl, finally pressing firmly into her lover with two fingers burying them deeply as Faith’s muscles flutter around her.  Nipping gently on Faith’s inner thigh, she gradually eases out to where she’s barely inside her lover, pushing back into the grasping opening with three fingers.

“YES!”  Faith’s hips jerk up at the fuller feeling of her lover’s three fingers stroking within her firmly.  Rocking against the strong fingers, Faith grasps the sheet beside her with one hand while trailing down her body with the other one, stopping to pinch her nipples into hardened points before continuing on its journey.

Tara watches entranced as Faith plays with her own breasts, her breath catching in her chest at the sight.  Something she could never get Willow to do, the redhead being embarrassed at the thought of touching herself while Tara watched.  “Oh, Goddess…”  Tara more breathes out the words as Faith’s hand works its way lower over her body.

“Don’t stop.”  Faith lifts her head to look down at Tara who had unconsciously stopped her hand’s movements.  Smiling at the wide-eyed look her lover gives her before blue eyes drop back to her hand’s movement.

Tara glances up at Faith, hearing her words, but it taking a few minutes to sink in as her eyes lock in on the strong hand that was pulling the hood away from the swollen flesh already poking out from her previous ministrations.  “Oh…”  Tara shakes her head, blushing lightly as she starts her hand’s movement again as she watches Faith’s fingers dip down a little further barely entering herself with Tara’s fingers to gather some liquid.  Jerking, Tara groans deeply at the sight before the strong, tanned hand shifts up and two fingers slowly circle around the hard clit.

Faith has to smile at the mesmerized look on Tara’s face as her eyes stay glued to her fingers.  Fighting closing her eyes as her body shakes and shifts uncontrollably in direct response to Tara’s fingers curling and stroking within her even as her own fingers are rubbing faster and harder over her quivering clit, but the sight of Tara watching everything with an almost wide-eyed innocence keeps her watching her lover until she can’t help but close her eyes, crying out her release as Tara presses into the bundle of nerves inside her firmly, causing her to flood the witch and press her fingers punishingly against her own clit, causing a small orgasm to follow quickly behind the major release.

Tara swallows hard at the sight before her, finally diving in to lick and suck at her lover’s body until Faith finally releases her fingers to let her clean her properly, nudging Faith’s hand from her mound so she can kiss and nibble her way slowly up Faith’s body as her lover whispers that she can’t handle anymore right now. 

Faith wraps her arms tightly around Tara as the blonde settles gently on top of her, burying her face in her neck and pressing hot kisses to her pulse point.  Her body still rocking slightly, Faith presses a soft kiss to the top of blonde hair, keeping her eyes closed as she slowly comes down from the high she’s on.  Chuckling a little while later, Faith slowly rolls over so she’s above Tara, but only her lower body is pressed into her lover.  “You weren’t joking when you said you wanted to have some morning lovings.”

“When it comes to making love, I very rarely joke.  I’ll laugh and enjoy having fun while making love, but I won’t joke about what I plan on doing.”  Tara grins crookedly at Faith.  Trailing her hands down the strong back, digging her fingers gently into the flinching muscles.

“Do you like to watch?”  Faith questions softly as she dips her head down to nibble gently down Tara’s neck, smiling as the woman tilts her head to give her better access to the white column of flesh.

Swallowing, Tara blinks as she makes sense of Faith’s question.  “This is the first time, and yes I did.”

“Hmmm.”  Faith sucks the flesh at Tara’s pulse point for a moment, causing just a light pinkness to the skin before nibbling her way across a collar bone.  “Have you ever put on a show for a lover, T-Bear?”  Faith trails her lips down Tara’s chest, smiling at the hard, fast heartbeat.

“N-no…”  Tara stutters out as Faith’s lips wrap around her aching nipple and sucks strongly, causing her to arch up into the hot mouth. 

Letting the nipple pop loudly from her mouth, Faith works her way over to the other breast, circling the hard flesh, smirking as it hardens even more as she breathes hotly over it.  “Why not?”

“Goddess, she wants me to think.”  Tara groans trying to follow the spread out conversation.  “Never been asked.”  Tara finally answers whimpering as strong teeth scrape gently over her sensitive nipple before a soft tongue laves the flesh.

“Would you, for me?”  Faith trails her tongue slowly down Tara’s ribs, still not liking how prominent they are, but knowing Tara’s a lot better than she was physically and mentally before they finally got together.

“Anything you want.”  Tara buries her fingers in damp brown hair, pressing her body up into Faith as the slayer’s tongue dips inside and circles her belly button, making her pant heavily with desire.

“Right now, I want to taste you and bury my fingers inside you.”  Faith growls, while nipping gently on Tara’s mound as she works her way towards her goal. 

“Goddess yes, Faith!”  Tara whimpers, wrapping a leg around Faith while pushing with the other leg urging her lover to touch her. 

“So wet…”  Faith trails her tongue over the swollen outer lips, gathering the escaped juices, sucking one lip then the other in her mouth, tonguing the silky smooth flesh.  Grinning as Tara tugs on her head, urging her to stop teasing.  “What do you want?”

“You.”  Tara bites her bottom lip as Faith growls against her clit the vibration making her jerk as a small flood of liquid escapes her with her mini-orgasm.

Faith eagerly laps at the liquid, flicking the tip of her tongue over the quivering muscle with each stroke of her tongue, grinning as Tara starts squirming and pulling on her hair, the moaning getting louder from her lover.  Enjoying the sound, taste and feel of Tara, Faith finally eases her middle two fingers into Tara’s clenching depths while wrapping her lips around the pulsing muscle.

Tara starts bucking into Faith’s hand and mouth as her lover curls her fingers, searching within her to slowly circle around the bundle of nerves while suckling gently at her clit occasionally flicking her tongue over the aching, swollen muscle.  “Faith!”  Tara squeezes her lover’s head between her thighs tightly as her lover presses firmly inside her in a tight circular motion taking her to the edge and throwing her off.

Faith groans deeply, releasing the muscle to replace her fingers with her mouth, tilting her head to get a tight fit on her lover’s opening, sucking the juice from inside her lover into her mouth, eagerly swallowing everything she can pull from Tara.

“Oh, sweet Goddess!!!”  Tara jerks as Faith literally pulls another orgasm from her, causing a rainbow of flashing colors to sparkle across the inside of her tightly closed eyelids.

Panting heavily, Faith shifts back a short distance to try and catch her breath, resting her cheek against Tara’s quivering thigh.  Looking upon her lover’s swollen sex, Faith groans and presses her lips to her mound as she slowly eases up Tara’s body, being careful not to press against her apex.  Pressing a soft kiss to each of Tara’s nipples, Faith eases to Tara’s side, leaving one arm thrown over Tara’s waist while lying on her stomach and burying her face against Tara’s shoulder.  Chuckling as Tara wiggles a leg under hers.  “Nap time?”

Tara smiles at her lover’s words.  Threading her fingers with Faith’s that are starting to tickle from where they were playing over her side, she turns and opens her eyes to look down at their perspiration coated bodies.  “More like catch our breath, shower and move me, then come back for a nap.”

“Food.”  Faith rubs her cheek against Tara’s shoulder as she shifts slightly. 

“Food is a definite in there somewhere.”  Tara chuckles, shifting her arm to wrap around Faith’s neck, hugging her as well as she can at this angle.

“Treat ya’ out to a big stack of waffles and a side order of bacon?”  Faith offers, smiling as she feels Tara nod her head. 

“Won’t get an argument out of me.”  Tara closes her eyes, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. 

Faith shifts slightly to look up at Tara, smiling at the beautiful sight.  With the half smile, flushed face and general look of contentment, Tara is even more beautiful than she normally is.  Pressing her lips against Tara’s chin, Faith takes a deep breath and relaxes as she makes a promise to herself to see that look on Tara’s face as often as she can.

***

Tara laughs delightedly as Faith growls playfully behind her, tapping her gently on the butt with the stake she’s carrying as they head towards The Bitch Club.  After they had moved her in, Faith seemed to have let the kid in her loose and wouldn’t talk or do anything serious as they unpacked her stuff and put it away.  Tara having been somewhat shocked when she’d noticed Faith had made room for all of her stuff.

Remembering Faith picking her up to twirl around the room before nipping playfully all over her body as her hands quickly stripped her, Tara groans, knowing from what she could see in the mirror that there were quite a few marks along her body where Faith had suckled for a few moments here and there in enjoyment.

The slayer had actually suckled on certain areas for quite a bit longer than others, cautiously rubbing a hand over a nipple that’s still somewhat tender from the ministrations of the slayer, but in definitely a good way. 

“If Linda shows up, you can dance with her, if ya’ want.”  Faith offers, finally easing up beside Tara and wrapping her arm around her waist, pressing a quick kiss on her cheek as they get closer to the club.

Tara blinks in surprise and looks at her happily smiling lover.  “Getting laid obviously agrees with you.”

Faith snorts and bumps her hip gently against Tara.  “Look in the mirror lately?  I ain’t the only one.”

Tara blushes lightly, remembering her own flushed face and glowing eyes, knowing Faith is right.  Hooking her thumb on one of the loops in Faith’s leather pants, Tara leans her head down on her lover’s shoulder.  “I love you, Faith.  And I would be a very happy woman if we could have a million more days like today.”

“If it’s in my power to give it to ya’, I will.”  Faith presses her lips to Tara’s head, inhaling her lover’s scent, smiling as she still gets a slight whiff of sex coming from Tara. 

“I know you will.”  Tara brushes her cheek against the strong shoulder as they walk up to the side entrance, Faith pulling her keys out to unlock the door.  “You really don’t mind if I dance with Linda?”

“Nope.  But if anyone else comes sniffing around, I reserve the right to kick their ass.”  Faith grins wickedly at Tara as she lets her lover into the bar ahead of her.  “I trust you, but if they so much as try and place a hand or finger somewhere they shouldn’t, they’ll be minus that particular item!”

Tara groans, hearing the laughter in her lover’s voice, but also knowing that she wouldn’t put it past Faith to break a few digits here and there if someone did push themselves on her.  “I think the regulars already know we’re both off-limits, Faith.  I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

“Yeah, well when they see ya’ dancing with Linda, they might think differently.”  Faith nips gently on Tara’s ear as they walk into the bar, both women automatically heading to the bar to grab something to drink. 

“They might think differently for all of two seconds before I straighten them out.”  Tara growls playfully, letting Faith grab them a couple sodas.

“Straight ain’t a word used around here that often, babe.”  Faith grins as Tara rolls her eyes at her.  “Here, I gotta talk to Dan about somethin’.  I’ll be back in a few.  The bar don’t open for another twenty minutes.”  Faith presses a quick kiss to Tara’s lips before heading back to the office, smirking at the confused look that she gets.

Tara shakes her head as she settles down at the bar, waiting for Ginny to make her way over. 

“Hey, Tara.”  Ginny grins as she tosses the rag in the sink from having re-wiped down all the tables, making sure they didn’t miss any the night before after closing the bar down. 

“Hi.  Do you need help with anything?”  Tara offers as Ginny reaches down and pulls out a case of water.

“Nah.  Just going to throw this in the cooler.  I’ll have Faith make a run to the storage room later tonight when we get low on the beverages, like normal.”  Ginny leans over the cooler re-arranging the cold waters so they’re at the front and placing the warm ones in the back, glancing up at Tara, Ginny quirks an eyebrow as she sees the light marks on the pale throat, and one extremely dark mark.  Looking into twinkling blue eyes, Ginny smirks.  “Finally bag her?”

Tara almost spits out her soda with Ginny’s phrasing.  Wiping her mouth she laughs at the woman and shakes her head.  “Isn’t that something geared more towards men?”

Ginny snorts before laughing.  “Ain’t you seen some of the butches coming in here?”

Tara closes her eyes and laughs before slowly nodding her head.  “You have a point.”  Tara’s eyes twinkle even more as she opens them. 

“Don’t understand it, myself.  I like a woman to look like a woman.  If I wanted a man, I’d be with a man.”  Ginny smirks as Tara laughs even more, enjoying the sounds of the quiet, unforced laughter. 

“I finally got the stubborn woman.”  Tara admits, smiling softly as she looks down into her glass. 

“Thank God!  I was going to end up locking you both in a room and not letting you out until you got it on, if you kept dancing around each other.  Faith’s been in a better mood since you two got together, but our ice bill tripled.”  Ginny jokes, having noticed the amount of ice Faith went through.

“She did seem to like crunching on it.”  Tara admits, remembering the same thing, and how much they’d gone through at the apartment.

“Trying to cool down.”  Ginny explains as she puts the last water in the cooler and slides the top closed.  “Where is she, anyway?”

“Talking to Danielle.”  Tara blushes at the insinuation. 

Ginny pats Tara’s hand, chuckling quietly at the sometimes shy woman.  “Let me get a couple pots of coffee brewing.  Help yourself if you need anything.”  Ginny orders quietly, wishing the woman would come here more often.  She was a breath of fresh air compared to some of the jaded, hard women that came in the bar, including Faith, though noticing a marked difference in the dark-haired woman in the last month or so. 

“Thank you.”  Tara glances up, smiling quickly before looking in the mirror above the back of the bar as everyone does last minute clean-up and double-checking items, chuckling at the small bar on the other side of the room that did strictly sodas and beer, the bartender over there snapping her bar towel at the other bouncer as Lane snags a bag of pretzels and dances out of the way.

***

Faith knocks on the door, sticking her head in after hearing a softly growled ‘come in’ from Dan.  “Hey.”

Danielle sighs and tosses her pen down, not able to get the figures added up, grumbling quietly about damn paperwork.  She loved the bar and running it, but hated all the paperwork that it involved.  “Faith, something I can help you with?”

“Hmm.  Maybe more of a help you and me both.”  Faith settles down in the chair Dan waves her too.

Danielle quirks an eyebrow questioningly at the bouncer as she leans forward and picks up her bottle of water silently telling Faith to continue.

Faith shrugs and just dives right in.  “I know you hate doing that shit.”  Faith waves to the paperwork.  “T-Bear has a lot of office classes under her belt, along with a degree she’ll have for teaching when she graduates in a couple weeks.  She’s gonna be lookin’ for a job, and I don’t want her to be out at night when I can’t be with her, and neither one of us like the thought of her working while I’m off.”  Faith takes a deep breath, before continuing.  “I know you ain’t lookin’ for a bookkeeper, but do ya’ think you could use one?  Maybe give her a trial or somethin’ and see if she can help ya’ out?”

Danielle blinks in surprise before leaning back in the chair considering Faith for a few minutes.  She and Ginny had actually talked a couple times about hiring someone part time to do the paperwork, since she hated it.  She loved the bar, and running it, but doing the paperwork never failed to irritate her.  She’d much rather be out with Ginny behind the bar mixing drinks and being with the customers.  “What does Tara say?”

“I ain’t mentioned it to her.”  Faith admits looking down at her pants, running a hand over the leather.  “I didn’t want ta’ get her hopes up, in case there wasn’t a chance.”

Danielle has to smile at the woman, Faith never failing to surprise her.  “I need to give her a trial run, see if she likes doing it, and it would only be part-time.  We don’t really need a bookkeeper full-time, more like a few hours each night type deal.  Or, if you’d rather her work the same nights you do, having off together, then a couple extra hours the following night.” 

Faith looks up, grinning hugely.  “Gotta ask her, but it’d make me feel better knowing she’s close by.”

Danielle chuckles and nods her head.  “Why don’t you ask her to come in here?  It’s getting close to time to open, and you’re working the door tonight.  I’ll ask her and see what she thinks.  She may not want the job.”  Danielle points out.

“Maybe, maybe not.”  Faith shrugs as she stands.  “But it don’t hurt to ask, does it?” 

“No, it doesn’t.”  Danielle laughs softly as Faith strides from the room, the bouncer somewhat of a surprise.  “She’s got you hook line and sinker, doesn’t she?”  Danielle’s laughter trails from the office at the thought of the stubborn, growling bouncer being caught by a shy, quiet blonde.

***

Chapter 15

Tara smiles as she finishes re-adding up the columns, making sure the ledger sheet balances, before handing it to Danielle, the woman having just stepped back into the room a couple minutes ago.  Having been somewhat shocked and surprised at the offer of a part-time job, when Danielle had given her the paperwork, to see how she did, Tara had settled in behind the desk and gotten straight to work, knowing that Faith had obviously talked to the woman.

“Damn, that’s where I screwed up.”  Danielle grimaces as she realizes she’d transposed a couple numbers, noticing the neat figures placed in the middle of her figures, glancing up at the desk and the neat piles of receipts and deposits that the figures were transferred from.  Settling her hip against the desk, she sets the papers down.  “I know you’re not normally a drinker.”  Danielle smirks as Tara blushes and squirms slightly in the chair.  “But free sodas, waters or whatever and munchies are provided for all employees.  I just ask that if you decide to come here on your nights off, not to get drunk and make an ass of yourself, which I really don’t foresee us having a problem with.”  Danielle chuckles at the surprised look on Tara’s face.  “I know you are getting ready for finals, you can come to work afterwards, if you want the job.”

“Goddess, yes.”  Tara grins crookedly, standing up to shake Danielle’s hand firmly.

“Go tell your girlfriend you’ve got a job, I think she’s on the nervous side.”  Danielle chuckles as Tara rolls her eyes. 

“I doubt that she’s nervous, probably more like having withdrawals.  We haven’t really been out of each other’s sight since yesterday afternoon.”  Tara tosses over her shoulder as she hurries out of the office and through the hallway out to the bar, grinning hugely as she sees warm brown eyes watching her intently.  Seeing an answering smile and wonderful dimples appearing, Tara laughs as she dodges and works her way over towards Faith.

“Good.  That settles that.”  Faith hugs Tara tightly, telling from her lover’s expression that she got the job.  Groaning as Tara captures her lips in a heated, intoxicating kiss.  Blinking and licking her lips after Tara finally eases away, Faith shakes her head.  “Damn.”

Tara blushes lightly and hugs Faith again.  “I’m going to get a bottle of water, do you want something?”

“Yeah, I’ll take one, too.”  Faith grins as she watches Tara head back to the bar.  Happy that she got a job working at the bar, that way she can keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happens.  As the next group of women come in, Faith checks ID’s, groaning quietly as Linda comes in grinning at her.

“So… where’s the hot little blonde you keep all to yourself?  You going to let me dance with her tonight?”  Linda wiggles her eyebrows, waiting for the usual growl and narrowing of eyes she gets from Faith, surprised when she doesn’t see Tara beside the bouncer. 

“She’s grabbing a couple waters right now, but you can ask her when she gets back.”  Faith smirks at the shocked look coming across Linda’s face.  Turning to the next woman in line and waving the regular in. 

“Huh?”  Linda blinks in shock at the bouncer, shifting to the side to let a large group of laughing women into the bar as Faith checks their ID’s and looks them over judging them to see if they’re going to be trouble makers.

“Hi.”  Tara grins crookedly at the Professor as she waits for Faith to finish with the group of women before handing the bottle of water to her lover.

“T-Bear, Linda was wonderin’ if ya’ wanted to dance with her.”  Faith smirks and winks at Tara as she twists the cap off the water and takes a couple huge swallows. 

Tara laughs quietly at the confused look on Linda’s face.  “Maybe in a little while, right now I kind of want to stick by you, if you don’t mind.”

“Stupid Wiccan, like I’d ever turn that down.”  Faith growls pulling Tara against her side and nipping gently on her neck.

Tara giggles as Faith’s nipping tickles her neck.  “Half hour?”  Tara smiles as Linda nods her head, still somewhat in shock before she wanders off.

Faith chuckles into Tara’s neck.  “I think that fucked with her brain more than me being bitchy does.”

“I’d have to agree with you.”  Tara laughs softly, before settling down in the chair Faith motions her to.  Watching as her lover checks over the women coming into the bar while looking at their ID’s, knowing Faith is sizing them up and seeing if she can see any noticeable weapons.  Whenever anything out of the ordinary is noticed, Faith asks them nicely to either hand the items over, or they were asked to leave.  Having watched her before, it still never fails to amaze her at the number of women that bring weapons into the bar and how easily Faith spots them.  Knowing it isn’t because of the normal ‘night-life’ that they are carrying, but just because they were looking for trouble, and her lover being able to conceal weapons so no one can notice them, makes it easy for her to detect them on other people.

“Looks like it’s gonna be a busy night.”  Faith finally turns towards Tara as the latest women enter the bar. 

“Who knew that there were so many lesbians and bisexuals here in Sunnydale?”  Tara grins crookedly at her lover.  “To think I missed out on this…”  Tara laughs as Faith growls before swooping in to kiss her. 

“Mine.”  Faith grumbles, though her eyes are glinting with amusement, after she releases Tara’s lips.

“All yours.”  Tara smiles lovingly at the slayer, gently brushing a lock of hair from her cheek. 

Faith sighs quietly as another small group of women come in.  “Go dance and have fun.  If you have any problems, you know where I am.” 

“I love you.”  Tara whispers softly, gently running a hand over her lover’s back as she stands, before weaving her way towards the area Linda and the women that just come to have a good time usually end up.

Faith smiles as she watches Tara, before turning her attention back to the women coming in while occasionally looking around the bar for any problems, knowing the other two bouncers will let her know if there’s a problem, but still liking to keep an eye open.

***

Faith tilts the barstool against the wall as she looks out over the sea of women, grinning as she watches Linda and Tara dancing, her lover having been somewhat nervous to begin with before finally relaxing and just letting go to enjoy herself. 

“Do you make it a habit to leer at your girlfriend?”  Buffy questions softly sneaking in on the dark-haired slayer and smirks as Faith turns a shocked look on her.

“Fuck!”  Faith laughs, slowly shaking her head as she takes in Buffy wearing her red leather pants and a tight black lycra top.  “B, they’re gonna take a look at you and come runnin’.  You couldn’t have worn somethin’ baggy so you wouldn’t be hit on by almost every woman in here?”

Buffy shrugs, blushing lightly as she looks over the crowd of women, her eyes opening wide as she takes in some of the outfits.  Squeaking as one woman strides by wearing a pair of chaps, boots and nothing else. 

Faith bites her lip to keep from busting out laughing at the shocked look of disbelief on Buffy’s face as her eyes widen and follow one of their regulars.  “Welcome to my world.”  Faith finally gives in and laughs at the dark blush coming across Buffy’s face.  “T-Bear is over there in the corner.  Anyone gives ya’ a problem, tell ‘em you’re with me or her and most of the regulars will leave ya’ alone.”

Buffy whimpers quietly, almost afraid to enter the sea of women, some that were dressed normally to women dressed like the one that had walked by.  “What did I get myself into?”

“You’re here now, go have fun.”  Faith orders, snorting back a laugh as she checks the ID on another woman coming into the bar.

Buffy slowly nods her head before carefully working her way back to where Tara is.

***

Linda laughs and gently squeezes Tara’s shoulder after they’d been dancing off and on for a couple hours, enjoying the time with the smart, normally somewhat quiet woman.  “Yeah, yeah.  So you got the big bad bouncer to finally chill out.  I noticed you still haven’t told me how.”  Linda points out, glancing around the bar, almost stumbling at the sight of the small blonde weaving her way towards them.  “Oh, my, God.  Am I drooling?”  Linda whispers to Tara, even as her hand goes up to her chin.  “And if she’s here with someone, I am going to be soooo pissed.”

Tara quirks an eyebrow at the Professor in surprise, Linda never talked about anyone that way.  Slowly turning around, she grins as she sees Buffy approaching.  Somewhat shocked the slayer had shown up, but also knowing it was hard for Buffy not to accept a dare.  Turning back to Linda, she tries to figure out who she’s looking at, before following her line of sight and opening her eyes wide as she realizes it most likely is Buffy.  “Ummm… if you’re looking at who I think you’re looking at she’s actually straight.”

“NOOOOO!!  She can’t be.  Not coming in here.”  Linda begs softly, her eyes trained on the woman that walks with almost a predator’s grace, her hips swaying slightly while her shoulders stay squared.  Finally able to make out the hazel eyes curiously looking at her.

“She’s a friend, and was kind of dared into coming here.”  Tara admits, watching as Buffy’s eyes narrow on her.  Grinning crookedly at the blonde slayer, knowing she can hear her, Tara just shrugs.  “It’s the truth.”

Buffy growls softly at Tara before nodding her head to the fact that she was dared into coming here.  Dodging another woman, Buffy finally closes the distance to stand by Tara, accepting the hug and giving one back.  “It has definitely been an eye-opening experience so far.”  Buffy grins at Tara, her eyes darting over to the ‘hitching’ post, shaking her head and looking back at Tara, blushing darkly. 

Tara giggles before hugging Buffy again.  “You surprised me by showing up, sweetie.  I honestly didn’t think you would.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I finally decided I had to see how the other side lives.  A lot more interesting than the Bronze, I got to give them that.”  Buffy brushes a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh at the thought.

Tara smacks gently on Linda’s hand that was tugging insistently on her shirt.  “Buffy, I’d like you to meet Professor Linda Carlisle.  Linda, this is Buffy Summers, a good friend.”

Buffy smiles in thanks at Tara before holding her hand out to the taller blonde, trying not to stare at the pale blue eyes looking at her.  “So you’re the one that had Faith all worked up?”

Linda chuckles and nods.  “She’s so much fun to irritate.  The only thing is, I think my fun has now been taken away.”  Linda grumbles good-naturedly.  “But..!!  But, I will definitely accept being able to dance with Tara as a consolation prize.”

“Oh, thanks.”  Tara grumbles, gently bouncing shoulders with the woman.  “I’m going to go get a couple waters, do you ladies want anything?”

“Water, please.”  Linda nods her head in agreement to Buffy’s answer, her eyes taking in the small blonde woman. 

“Behave, Linda.  I already explained to you about Buffy.”  Tara warns chuckling at the pout she gets in response. 

“Duly noted.  But maybe I could at least get her to dance a couple dances.”  Linda looks hopefully at the woman as Tara just laughs softly as she makes her way to the bar.

Buffy blushes and shrugs.  “Maybe.  I was kinda planning on dancing a dance or two with Tara, since we know each other.”

“I’ll be good.”  Linda raises her hands, putting on her best puppy dog look.  “You can have Faith kick my ass if I’m not.”

“I can kick ass myself.  I don’t need her help.”  Buffy chuckles and slowly shakes her head.  As one of her favorite songs come over the speakers, Buffy tilts her head towards the dance floor.  “Come on, let’s dance.”

Linda grins hugely and steps back out onto the dance floor from where they’d moved to the edge.  Groaning quietly as Buffy sinks into the music quickly, the woman dancing in a way that definitely made her libido stand up and take notice.  Looking up at the ceiling, Linda mumbles quietly to herself, or so she thought.  “You’re trying me, I know you are.  But I’m going to behave.”

Buffy blushes lightly as she spins around, so Linda won’t see her blush, continuing to dance until the heat leaves her face and works her way back around to dance with the taller woman.

***

Faith nods to Lane who steps up to give her a break from the door for half an hour.  Quickly striding towards the bar, having seen Tara heading that way, she glances over to Buffy and Linda on the dance floor, smirking at Buffy as the slayer starts to really let loose.  Stepping up behind Tara, Faith rests a hand on her hip as her lover leans back against her, making eye contact in the mirror above the bar.  “You left B with Prof?”

“Linda promised to behave.”  Tara hands a bottle of water to Faith, before opening her own, taking a couple swallows as Faith practically downs hers.

“Maybe ya’ shoulda got the same promise from B.”  Faith rumbles softly into Tara’s ear.  “She’s gonna make Prof all hot and bothered she keeps that up.”

Tara’s eyes jerk to the dance floor, groaning at the sight of Buffy doing her normal dancing that she liked to do at the Bronze to tease the men.  “Does she not realize doing that is just as much of a tease to women as it is to men?”

“Don’t know, but I ain’t gonna tell her.”  Faith chuckles wickedly.  “This could be entertainin’.”

“To say the least.”  Tara groans, closing her eyes as she shakes her head. 

“I got to make a pit stop.  Then maybe dance a couple dances before I gotta go back to the door.”  Faith murmurs, before giving her a quick nibble on the neck, chuckling at the quiet groan she gets in response before trotting off towards the bathroom.

Tara accepts a couple more bottles of water that Ginny places in front of her, blushing lightly at the smirk and wink she gets from the bartender.  Carrying the bottles back to the small table she and Linda had commandeered earlier, she settles in the chair, laughing quietly at the look of suffering on Linda’s face as Buffy presses her body back into the taller woman’s body as she gyrates to the song playing.

As the song comes to an end, Buffy motions that she’s going to hit the bathroom, Linda whimpers quietly as she settles in the chair across from Tara, smiling at the sight of the blonde sitting in Faith’s lap and Faith looking like she’s trying her best to nibble on all the flesh she can expose.  “Are you positive she’s straight?  No bend whatsoever?”  Linda begs quietly, her eyes pleading.

Faith snorts, burying her face in Tara’s neck, hugging her tightly.

Tara takes a deep breath and shakes her head.  “She’s never seemed interested in a woman before, Linda.  And as far as all of us are aware and from what she’s said, she’s never dated one.”  Tara glances around to make sure Buffy wasn’t sneaking up on them before leaning across the small table to look at Linda seriously.  “And her last boyfriend was a very macho, soldier type that they basically couldn’t keep their hands off of each other.  So, take what I’m telling you and you decide.”

Linda moans and sinks down in the chair, playing with the bottle of water.  “Just my luck.  Find someone that can dance, doesn’t have a significant other, and that really, really piques my interest and she’s straight.”

Faith laughs quietly, before standing up and gently setting Tara on her feet as a slow song comes on.  “Dancin’.”  Faith let’s Linda know simply, before leading Tara out onto the dance floor and pulling her into her arms.

Linda sighs as she shifts so she can watch the two women, smiling at the sight. 

Buffy eases up beside Linda, looking out at the dance floor and watches Faith and Tara for a few minutes quietly.  “Two people that are more opposites I’ve never seen.  But they definitely belong together.”  Buffy smiles before looking down at Linda.  “Did you want to dance?”  Buffy finally questions after a few moments.  Feeling more comfortable as the evening wore on, dancing with the tall professor. 

“Buffy, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think I can handle too much more of your kind of dancing.”  Linda admits after taking a deep steadying breath after being caught up in smiling hazel eyes, her days of falling for heterosexual women long over with.

Buffy sighs quietly, before looking back at the dance floor.  Looking at the different couples, she’s able to pick out the women that actually care for each other.  The ones that are in love with each other and even the ones that are looking for an easy one-night stand with no commitments.  Pulling up the chair to settle right next to Linda, Buffy doesn’t look at the woman, but starts to softly speak.  “My love life has left a lot to be desired.  The first man I fell in love with was totally wrong for me, and in so many ways.”  Buffy takes a deep breath, thinking about Angel, before continuing.  “Another guy I thought that I might have a chance at a relationship with, only wanted another notch on the bed post.  Which he got before I realized what was happening.”  Buffy runs a hand through her hair and shakes her head as she sees Linda lean forward and open her mouth as if to say something.  “My third relationship lasted for over a year.  I honestly thought I loved him, and eventually we’d get married and have the 2.3 kids and all that other shit.  But there were irreconcilable differences between us.  The main one being our lives… he was able to shut off at a certain time, and he thought I should be able to do that, too.  Unfortunately I couldn’t, and still can’t.”

Linda watches the emotions playing across Buffy’s face as she talks.  The young woman not looking at her, but knowing she’s speaking from her heart.  Swallowing at the pain in her voice as she speaks, Linda unconsciously reaches out and gently grasps her hand in support, not even aware of Buffy threading their fingers together and squeezing gently. 

“And my latest foray into…”  Buffy tilts her head, before shaking it.  “It wasn’t a relationship.  It was just cold, hard fucking.  There was no love involved, no caring, it just was something I allowed to happen and I never should have.  Maybe if you’re around long enough and become part of the group I’ll eventually give you more details than these bare bones.”  Buffy finally looks over at Linda and smiles sadly at the blonde woman.  “All I have ever wanted is what those two have.” Buffy’s eyes trail back to the dance floor, watching as Faith gently strokes the back of her fingers over Tara’s cheek as they dance closely together, the love obvious in the tender display.  “And I’m honestly wondering if I need to open my eyes to what is around me, instead of the pre-conceived notions that I grew up with.”

Linda’s eyes stay on Buffy as the blonde watches Faith and Tara out on the dance floor with a look of longing on her face.  The look so poignant, that Linda feels her heart catch in her chest.  For one of the few times in her life, Linda doesn’t know what to say.  For someone that makes a life talking to a classroom full of college students Buffy’s age, and trying to help prepare them for the real world, Buffy’s quiet comments about her personal love life struck home that the small woman already knows what the real world is like, and the lessons have been hard fought.  Finally just standing, Linda tugs silently on Buffy’s hand and leads her out to the dance floor.

Buffy relaxes into the woman’s body as Linda wraps her arms around her waist, holding her loosely, letting her decide how close she wants to be.  Realizing that Linda’s roughly four inches taller than her, Buffy rubs her cheek on her shoulder and closes her eyes, letting her hands rest on her shoulders as they slowly dance to the music.

Tara smiles softly at the sight of Buffy dancing with Linda as they make their way back to the table.

“I need to get back to the door.”  Faith brushes her lips over Tara’s ear before letting them linger for a few moments in contentment.  “I think you lost your dance partner.”

“I think so, too.”  Tara turns her head and presses a quick kiss to Faith’s lips.  “I may come join you in a little while at the door.”

“’Kay.”  Faith gently squeezes Tara’s hip before grabbing her bottle of water and striding back to the door.

***

Chapter 16

Faith sniggers quietly as she glances up at Tara pacing back and forth, snapping her eyes back to the television as Tara glares at her. 

“I thought you would be pissed about this!!”  Tara points an accusing finger at her lover, watching as Faith shrugs and smirks at her. 

“Up to you.  We’ve been invited to dinner, even if it is take-out.  It’s her way of ‘testing the waters’ is how I think she put it.”  Faith leans down, finally pulling on her Doc Martin’s, lacing them tightly. 

“But…”  Tara takes a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling for divine help.  “Three weeks they’ve sort of been seeing each other, now Buffy wants to have Linda come to her house as sort of MY other woman?”

“Not quite.”  Faith shakes her head, chuckling.  “Linda’s coming by here to pick us up, and we’re stopping at the Chinese place to pick up the food and take it to B’s.  Lil’ D is gonna be there, and she’s already cool with Linda.”

“I know she likes Linda, who doesn’t?  But she’s still in shock over the fact that her very straight, man-loving sister is sort of dating a woman!”  Tara waves her hands around and stares at her laughing lover.  “And you aren’t helping matters!!  You know Buffy probably made it sound more like Linda was my girlfriend than you, when she told Willow she was inviting us all over for dinner!”

“I know.”  Faith admits, shifting slightly.  “But my ass is gonna be parked right next to you the whole time.  I already told B, I ain’t fuckin’ playin’ games.  If I wanna hug ya’, kiss ya’, or fucking drag your ass somewhere private, I’m gonna.”

Tara chuckles quietly before sitting beside her lover on the couch.  Resting her cheek against Faith’s shoulder, Tara feels the tension in her lover’s body.  Stroking a hand firmly up and down Faith’s tense thigh, Tara squeezes her knee firmly.  “I’m going to talk with Willow while we’re there tonight.  With you, Dawn, Buffy and a woman she doesn’t know being there, I think she’ll be on her best behavior.  If she even decides to stick around.  Buffy did mention she’s still a little wigged at the thought of you being here.”

Faith slowly relaxes at Tara’s touch.  “I want it out in the open, T-Bear.  I love ya’ and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that little redheaded bit…”  Faith continues grumbling against Tara’s lips as her lover slowly derails her thoughts, making her kiss her back longingly. 

“It isn’t like we’ve exactly been hiding.”  Tara points out after breaking off the kiss, grinning crookedly at the desire obvious in Faith’s eyes.  Loving the sight of her brown eyes darkening and how her pink tongue darts out across her bottom lip trying to capture any trace of her flavor left.  Having asked Faith once why she kept doing that and the slayer had smirked and commented that she loved her flavor, from both lips, making Tara blush darkly at the comment until she was crying out the slayer’s name a little while later as she demonstrated how much she liked her flavor. 

Faith smirks as Tara’s eyes are focused on her lips.  Slowly trailing her tongue over her bottom lip again, Faith inhales deeply when the smell of arousal coming from Tara becomes stronger.  Growling softly, Faith shifts and presses her body gently against Tara’s, smiling as Tara laughs and falls back on the couch, pulling her down firmly on top of her.  “What’cha want?” 

Tara doesn’t say anything, just hooks her hands behind Faith’s neck, pulling her down for a deep, invasive kiss.  Capturing Faith’s tongue to suckle firmly on it for a few minutes before finally releasing it to try and catch her breath.  Arching her neck as Faith slowly kisses her way down to her shirt, hands busy unbuttoning them to keep from impeding her descent.

Faith growls before nipping gently on the flesh she’d just uncovered.  “Never fuckin’ fails.” 

Tara laughs as Faith rolls off her and strides to the door.  “Maybe if we weren’t playing when we know someone’s coming over…”

“Yeah, yeah.”  Faith grumbles, opening the door to allow Linda in.  Smirking at the woman as she glances over to where Tara’s fixing her shirt.  “Everythin’ ready for later?”  Faith whispers softly, so Tara won’t hear her.

“Yep.”  Linda smirks at Faith, all of them getting together, planning on a graduation party at Buffy’s house under the guise of just a dinner.  With Tara graduating Summa Cum Laude, Faith had snuck around with her and Buffy to get the group of friends together for a small celebration, the actual graduation taking place the following day.

“How are you and B doin’?”  Faith questions curiously, her eyes trailing back to Tara as she works her way towards them.

Linda shrugs, but smiles sadly.  “It’s more of a friend thing right now, Faith.  We dance, go out to eat, talk and occasionally hold hands when we go out on patrol.  You know that, Faith.  You’ve seen what happens and doesn’t happen when we’re together.  I don’t think it’ll advance much past that.” 

“Uh, huh.”  Faith bites back the smile as Tara smacks her on the ass as they follow Linda out of the apartment. 

Tara chuckles quietly, knowing that her lover is thinking about two nights ago when Buffy had come pounding on their door after her latest non-date with Linda.  The blonde slayer had paced back and forth rambling for over an hour before finally collapsing on the floor to look at the two of them and asked how the hell she can tell Linda that she wants more than just friendship with her.  Of course her lover, in her usual blunt way, told Buffy to grab her and carry her to the nearest bed, rip off her clothes and do what came naturally.  That ended up making Buffy go off even more, this time about what the hell was she supposed to do when things reached that point.

Faith looks back at Tara as she hears the quiet giggling coming from her lover.  Shaking her head as Tara wiggles her eyebrows at her, Faith trots down the stairs behind Linda, Tara laughing outright as she jogs behind them.  Glad to hear the laughter, knowing that Tara was extremely nervous about actually being in close proximity with her ex.  Though Faith wonders how much of it’s nervousness just being around Willow, or at the thought of what might happen when Willow finds out that she and Tara are a couple. 

Faith opens the front passenger door to Linda’s car, letting Tara sit in front before gently shutting the door behind her and climbing quickly in the back and settling behind Tara, reaching up to rub a thumb gently over her neck in a soothing gesture, smiling as she feels Tara slowly relax.

***

“I am in Tara’s good graces now, and I don’t want you to do anything to upset her.  So you are to be on your best behavior.”  Anya warns Xander as they make their way to Buffy’s house.

Xander looks at his fiancée in shock, silently wondering, not for the first time, what happened to where Anya was going out of her way to be extremely nice and less… offensive around Tara.  Add to that fact that Anya closed the Magic Box early to go to the Graduation party that Buffy was putting on still makes his head hurt. 

“And Faith is going to be there along with another woman that is either her, Buffy’s or Tara’s friend.  I am confused on that matter, but…”  Anya shrugs, dismissing it as unimportant.  “You have already discussed things with Buffy and she has explained to you that the evil slayer is behaving and harming only demons, so you have nothing to worry about.  She will not try and choke you again.” 

Xander whimpers quietly, sometimes wondering what he sees in Anya and how her mind works, but shakes it off as he pays attention to where he’s driving.  “I know, Anya.  Buffy’s already explained all that, though I can’t say as I’m happy about the fact that she kept Faith’s being released from jail and being here in Sunnydale a secret for so long.”

“She had her reasons.”  Anya crosses her arms over her chest, looking out the window, still not telling Xander that Faith and Tara are a couple, leaving that for Tara to decide.  Not wanting to upset her friend anymore, since Tara is the one person that actually talks with her instead of to her.  Checking the back seat again for the rare potion, herb and spell book, Anya smiles remembering how reverently the Wiccan had run her fingers over it when she saw it in the store, surprised when Faith had slid it over to her after Tara had set it back down and actually shopped for a few items she needed.  The slayer asking her to keep it aside, that she’d pay for it, if she would wrap it and bring it to Tara’s graduation party.  And true to her word, a couple days later while Tara was taking her last exam Faith had hurried in tossing the money to her, along with extra for wrapping it before hurrying out to finish planning the party.

Smiling at the thought of the two women, Anya darts a glance towards Xander, silently wondering how he’s going to react, knowing that he’ll probably take his cue from Willow.  Sighing quietly she hopes that it doesn’t become World War III here in Sunnydale.

***

Buffy finishes straightening the banner as Dawn sets out the drinks in the kitchen.  Taking a deep breath to try and calm down her nervous stomach, Buffy glances up the stairs, still waiting for Willow to come down.  When she’d mentioned that they were having a graduation party for Tara, and that she’d invited Faith along with a couple other people, Willow had been slightly upset.  Not mad, more like hurt and she’d kept to herself not even helping with the decorations. 

Trotting over to the bookshelf entertainment unit, Buffy places the CD’s Faith had given her with a lot of mixed songs on them, the majority of bands and groups that Tara enjoyed, or were good songs to dance to.  Pressing play, knowing it won’t be long before people start arriving, she hurries up the stairs.  Hesitating for a moment outside Willow’s closed door, Buffy debates silently before knocking gently.

Willow looks up at the soft knock before glancing back down at her computer for a moment, finally easing off the bed and opening the door.

“Umm.  People will probably be arriving here soon, so I thought I’d let you know if you wanted to join in.”  Buffy offers somewhat nervously, her eyes searching sad green eyes.

“I think I might just stay up here, Buff.”  Willow shrugs, dropping her eyes to the floor.  “I mean, I’m not exactly on the best friends list with Tara and this is for her.”

“But…”  Buffy starts only to stop as Willow shakes her head.

“I might drop down to say congratulations or something eventually, but right now I think I’m just going to stay in here.”  Willow motions to her bedroom.

“If you’re sure?”  Buffy’s shoulders slump slightly as Willow nods her head.  “Well, I’ll bring you up a plate with food and munchies on it in a little while, along with a soda or two, okay?”

Willow smiles at Buffy trying to make her feel better, honestly having felt bad since the big blow up with Buffy and the slayer bringing home to her exactly what she’d done in the past, not just to Tara but to Buffy too.  “I’d appreciate it.”

“Consider it done.  And you can still come down, if you change your mind, okay?”  Buffy quirks her lip at Willow watching as a small smile crosses Willow’s face. 

“Okay.”  Willow smiles a little more, relaxing slightly.  “Have a good time, and tell her congratulations for me, okay?”

“Will do.”  Buffy pats Willow gently on the shoulder, before Willow steps back into the room and slowly eases the door closed.  Heading quickly to her room to do a quick clothes change and freshen up in the bathroom, Buffy grins at the thought of her plans for later that night.  The small group of women planning on going to The Bitch Club for an evening of dancing and partying since Faith and Tara have off. 

“And you, my Professor, are hopefully going to be pleasantly surprised.”  Buffy chuckles as she changes.

***

Dawn bounces to the front door, opening it to let Anya and Xander in.  “Come on, they’re on their way here.”  Dawn grins at Anya, knowing the ex-demon knows pretty much the basics of the group dynamics now.  “Gifts on the small table by the mantle.”  Dawn motions, seeing the one item wrapped that Xander’s carrying while Anya has a bag with tissue paper showing from the top.  Almost afraid to ask what Anya got, Dawn decides to leave well enough alone for once.  Shutting the door, she chuckles as Xander hurries over to place the gift he’s carrying on the table before looking around at the balloons, streamers and banner decorating the living room. 

“Buffy’s been busy.”  Xander comments smiling at the sight. 

“HEY!  I helped you know!”  Dawn grumbles before laughing.  “We’ve got munchies and sodas in the kitchen.  Going to have some major Chinese food to go with everything also.”

“Food good.”  Xander jokes, his voice deep as he follows Dawn into the kitchen.  “Where’s Buffy and Wills?”

Dawn rolls her eyes.  “Buffy’s primping, you know how she is.  Willow…”  Dawn shrugs and nervously shifts things around.  “I think she’s almost afraid to see Tara, now that she understands a little more what she did.”

“But if she talks to her…”  Xander looks hopefully at Dawn, surprised when the teenager shakes her head almost vehemently.

“She won’t go back to her, Xander.  Trust me on this.  Even Willow knows that she destroyed what was between them.”  Dawn pours some Coke in her glass, sipping it as she looks down at the island.

“You know what happened?”  Xander looks at Dawn, surprised when the teenager slowly nods her head.  “No one’s ever told me what happened.”  He admits, grabbing a pretzel to munch on it.  “Other than Willow said it was her magic usage, which I figured Tara would come back to her after she got control.”

Buffy steps into the kitchen, not wanting Dawn to be caught in the middle of what’s going on, surprised when Anya follows right on her heels.  “It was partially the magic usage, Xander.  But it was the fact that Willow actually did a spell ON Tara that ultimately ended things between them.  Any more than that, you’ll need to talk to Willow, we’re here for Tara graduating college with top honors, and we’re going to celebrate before we have to go on patrol.  No arguing, no nasty looks, no smart-assed comments, understand?”

Xander’s mouth opens and shuts as he looks from Buffy to Anya and back again, not believing that Willow would actually do a spell on Tara, but seeing the serious look on Buffy’s and his fiancée’s face, he slowly nods his understanding.  “Okay, party, fun time.”

“Good.”  Buffy snatches a handful of pretzels before humming along to the music as she works her way back to the living room.

***

Tara laughs as the three women carry the bags of food up to Buffy’s house.  “I know you and Buffy can eat, honey, but isn’t this a bit much?”

“Uh, uh.  You can eat Chinese food and a half hour later you’re hungry again.”  Faith wiggles her eyes at Tara as she lets Linda get a short distance ahead of them.  “Kinda like eating somebody else… half hour I’m hungry for more.” 

Tara blushes at her lover’s insinuation before leaning in to whisper softly.  “Takes a half hour to get hungry for more?  Here I thought it was a never ending hunger.”  Tara chuckles and hurries up the steps where Linda was waiting for them, a smirk on the blonde’s face.  “Don’t even.”  Tara warns.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.”  Linda’s eyes look at Faith who has a decidedly wicked look on her face as she quietly eases behind Tara.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Linda.”  Tara throws Faith a warning glance over her shoulder, stopping the slayer in her tracks.

“Shit.”  Faith grumbles quietly at having been caught. 

“Try and behave, at least somewhat.”  Tara grins crookedly at her lover before turning to knock on the door, shaking her head at the soft growling coming from behind her.

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!”  Buffy yells as she opens the door, laughing as Tara almost falls over backwards.  “Get your butts in here.”  Buffy grabs the bags from Tara’s hands and heads to the kitchen while the rest of the group congratulates the Wiccan.

Tara blushes as she gets hugs from everyone, it taking a couple moments to realize Willow wasn’t there.  Sighing quietly, she doesn’t know whether to be happy or sad. 

Faith grins before following Buffy into the kitchen, helping her unpack the Chinese.  “Where’s Red?”

“Upstairs.”  Buffy sighs as she looks at Faith.  “I think she’s decided she’s persona-non-grata around here.”

Faith crosses her arms over her chest as she leans back against the counter looking intently at Buffy.  “She finally understands what she did, huh?”

“Yeah.”  Buffy goes back to finish unpacking the bags.  “I think she’s feeling guilty as hell for what she’s done, and doesn’t have a clue as to how to make up for it.”

“Trust me, you can’t make up for stupid shit you do.  You can apologize and do your damnedest to do what’s right from then on, but you can never really make up for it.”  Faith shifts and gathers the empty bags, folding them as she shakes her head.  “It’ll always be with ya’, no matter what you do from then on.”

“Faith…”  Buffy starts, stopping as the dark-haired slayer just smiles sadly at her.  Sighing quietly, Buffy pats Faith on the shoulder.  “Let’s get out of the doom and gloom shit.  We’re partying because your girlfriend is one of the smartest people we know and graduated college with top honors.”

“Yeah, imagine that.  Me with a college grad.”  Faith smirks and bounces her hip against Buffy’s.  “Makes ya’ wonder how smart she is, don’t it?”

“She’ll kick your ass for saying something like that.”  Buffy chuckles as they make their way back to the living room, both women laughing quietly at the sight of Xander being smacked as he stares at Linda. 

“Ya gonna attack tonight, B?”  Faith watches the interaction as Tara talks with Dawn about what she’s planning on doing during the summer as Linda laughs as Anya picks on Xander. 

Buffy takes a deep breath, thinking she’d feel more nervous than she does.  “Not attack, but I am going to let her know that I’m interested in more than friendship.”

“Good.  Do ya’ think Xander thinks Tara and Linda are together and should I disabuse him of that thought?”  Faith grins wickedly.

“You won’t have to.”  Buffy grins back before striding over towards Linda, gently grasping her arm.  “You met Xander, I take it.  Of course, you know Anya from the Magic Box.”

“Yes, I’ve just been introduced to Xander.”  Linda chuckles as Anya smacks him again. 

“I just asked if she was seeing anyone.”  Xander whimpers as Anya smacks him again. 

“You were drooling.”  Anya looks away, trying to fight the smile crossing her face.  “And who were you hoping she is dating?”

“Nobody.”  Xander pouts, as he looks from Buffy to Linda, surprised to notice how close Buffy was standing to the woman.  “So, what do you do for a living, Linda?”

“I’m a professor at the college.”  Linda smiles down at Buffy as she feels her small hand shift to rub her back gently. 

“Cool.  So you know Buffy and Tara, huh?”  Xander shifts out of the way as Anya tries to backhand him in the stomach.  “What?  I’m just trying to get to know her.”

“Yes, I know Buffy, Tara and Faith.  Actually I sort of knew Faith first.”  Linda watches as Xander’s eyes narrow and the wheels start to turn in his head.  “She bounces at the bar I go to.”

“Bar?  Which bar?”  Xander perks up.

“The Bitch Club.”  Buffy answers for Linda, smirking as a shocked look comes across Xander’s face before he blushes darkly.  Laughing, she pats Linda on the back.  “Guess he’s heard about that particular club.”

“I had to explain it to him.”  Anya admits, grinning.  “One night he mentioned he wanted to go there and see what it was like, instead of The Bronze.  I think he was even more upset when he found out he wouldn’t be welcome inside.”

“Every man’s fantasy.”  Faith mutters as she and Dawn join the conversation, having already explained to Tara about Willow, surprised when Tara had taken a deep breath and looked up the stairs before hurrying upstairs. 

“Where’s Tara?”  Buffy questions, her eyes darting around the living room.

Faith shifts her eyes to the stairs before looking back at Buffy.  “She wanted to get it outta the way.  I think if she waited she’d become more nervous.”

“And you aren’t right there by the door waiting?”  Buffy looks in surprise at the dark-haired slayer, watching as she blushes darkly.

“She threatened to kick my ass if I did.”  Faith admits, shifting slightly.  “Would ya’…”  Faith looks imploringly at Buffy.

Buffy nods her head before heading over to the stairs, quickly climbing them to sit at the landing to make sure nothing bad happens.

Faith sighs in relief watching Buffy, before smiling nervously at a confused looking Xander.

“She’s going to tell her?”  Anya blinks in surprise as Faith nods her head.  “Oh, boy.” 

“Tell her what?”  Xander frowns heavily looking from Anya to Faith, then to Linda and Dawn who both seem to shift and back away somewhat.  “How come I have this feeling that everyone knows something but me?”

Faith rubs the back of her neck, trying to think of the best way to explain to Xander that she and Tara are a couple, though other than being upset for Willow, not really knowing why it’s any of his business.

“Faith and Tara have become close the last two or three months, and are seeing each other.  That’s all you need to know.”  Anya gives Xander a warning glare.  “And before you freak out that Faith’s the reason that Tara won’t go back to Willow, you should know better.  Even if Faith wasn’t in the picture, Tara would never go back to that mind-raping redhead.”

Linda tilts her head for her and Dawn to head to the kitchen, leaving the group to talk amongst themselves, glancing up at Buffy, surprised to see hazel eyes watching her intently.  It still shocks her that the small, petite woman was a world savior, multiple times over.  Though getting to know her over the past weeks and Tara actually talking with her quite a bit, finally explaining about the group, she’d been shocked to begin with, but as she thought about it, it made a lot of things that she’d seen make a lot more sense.

Linda smiles softly at the blonde slayer, knowing it had surprised the two slayers and Tara somewhat at her acceptance about things that go bump in the night.  Of course watching the two women and Tara while they were out on patrol cemented it in her mind, but never doubting them for one minute.  Finally turning to follow Dawn into the kitchen, she smiles at the teenager.

“So…  You dragging Buffy out dancing again tonight?”  Dawn hops up on an empty counter, clicking her heels together as she smirks at the professor.  Having seen some of the looks Buffy had given her, knowing it’s only a matter of time before Buffy took the plunge into advancing their relationship past the friend stage.  Having gone out with the group a couple times in the past weeks when they met up for dinners or to go to the movies, she’d gotten to know the woman halfway decently and honestly liked her. 

“I think it’s more of the opposite.  She insisted I go with them tonight.  Of course, Tara and I are going to drive beside her and Faith while they do patrol tonight on the way to the club.”  Linda grabs a potato chip and munches on it.  “So, any new boyfriends for you?”

Dawn giggles and shakes her head.  “Not after the whole vampire one, no.  Buffy’s keeping an extra close eye on me here lately.”

“I still can’t believe you didn’t know.  I mean, your sister is a slayer, shouldn’t you automatically check for things like that?”  Linda grins as she picks on the teenager.

“Yeah, yeah.  So she keeps telling me.  Of course, even dating a normal boy freaks her out.”  Dawn blushes before giggling.  “Should tell her I ran into this cute girl at the mall and see what she would say?  Wonder if she’d freak out any less?”

“Did you?”  Linda laughs as Dawn blushes even darker and looks away.  “I’ll take that as a yes.  Buffy seems okay with gay people, Dawn.  I mean we’re friends, then there’s Tara and Faith, so I don’t foresee her having a problem on that end of the spectrum.”

“No!!  I know she wouldn’t have a problem that way, it’s more of the fact that I’m interested in anyone, that she would have a problem with.”  Dawn sighs as she becomes serious.  “This whole younger sister thing is a drag.”

“Well you are fifteen years old, Dawn.  Admittedly from the few things I’ve heard that’s happened with this group of people would cause anyone to grow up fast, but she just wants you to have a childhood.  Something she never really had a chance at.”  Linda shifts to lean against the counter beside Dawn, gently patting her on the leg.  “I think that’s what bothers her the most.  That because of her calling, you don’t have a normal life growing up.”

“But…”  Dawn’s shoulders slump and she nods her head.  “I understand that, but I just wish she wouldn’t be such a worry wart about things.”

“That’s a sister’s responsibility, Dawn.  To worry about things.”  Linda chuckles and pats the teenager on the knee.  “Now think about it, has she been better lately?”

“Yeah.”  Dawn kicks her leg out, pouting.  “She lets me hang around more and she talks about things that she used to not talk about in front of me.”

“See.  I bet it’s because you’re acting more grown up, she’s starting to treat you more like a grown-up, right?”  Linda pokes Dawn in the leg, actually having talked with the teen one night extensively about things when Buffy had to bail out on a movie night the three of them were going on when she saw a group of vampires.  She and Dawn going by the rental place and renting a couple movies before going back to the Summers’ residence.

Dawn rocks her shoulder to bounce off Linda’s shoulder.  “Stop making sense.”  Getting a calculating look in her eyes, Dawn turns to look at Linda.  “Sooo, when are you going to kiss her and make her see what’s right in front of her?” 

Linda’s eyes widen as she stares at the teenager, before shaking her head.  “Dawn, I’m not going to push her for a relationship.  We have a good friendship going here, and she’s okay with gay people, but that doesn’t mean she’s interested in a relationship with another woman.”

“Uh, huh.”  Dawn purses her lips.  “What if she kissed you?”  Watching intently as a soft smile crosses Linda’s face and her eyes get distant, Dawn has her answer.  Laughing at the thought, she hops down.  “Let’s see if the living room and upstairs are still intact.  Though I haven’t heard any yelling and screaming, it still makes me worry about what’s going on.”

Linda slowly follows Dawn out of the kitchen, her mind on the thought of the blonde slayer kissing her.  Knowing she shouldn’t even think about it, but unable not to with Dawn putting the thought in her head.

***

The Bitch Club - Chapters 17-Epilogue

Faith/Tara Navigational Page

Main Navigational Page

Feed Me!