Date Night (5 page)

The blonde was acutely aware of Faith's warm breath bursting against her bare neck as they swayed back and forth, and the affect it was having on her slightly buzzed figure. The Boston woman moved her face slightly so her lips now barely brushed against the blonde's neck.

Buffy pulled back suddenly, no longer dancing. “I don't…I'm not…”

Faith stopped dancing as well and stared intently at her smaller partner. “You're not what, B?”

The blonde girl shook her head and dropped her gaze to the scuffed dance floor. “This isn't who I am.”

Faith's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. “I don't follow.”

Buffy raised her arms.
“
This
,”
she sighed. “Dancing with you to sexy songs, sneaking away to talk to you online or on the phone or in person.”

The Boston girl looked mildly uncomfortable. “I didn't realize you were
sneaking around
to talk to me.” She cleared her throat. “You make me sound like a dirty secret or somethin'.”

The Chosen One frowned deeply. “You know it's more complicated than that.”

Faith gave a disgruntled sound that Buffy could hear even over the restaurant's music system. “It doesn't
have
to be complicated though, B,” she insisted. “Why can't we just enjoy each other's company?” She gave her sister-Slayer an easy smile.

Buffy pursed her lips. “Because if we keep heading down this road...” she hesitated on her next words, “we'll be doing more than enjoying each other's `company.'”

The Boston girl couldn't help but smirk. “And what's the bad news?”

Buffy shook her head. “I have a boyfriend, Faith.”

Faith ran her fingers through her hair. “I thought this is what you wanted…I thought this is where all our flirting was heading,” she said gruffly and honestly. “Don't tell me you're afraid?”

The Californian gave the taller girl a stubborn look. “I'm not afraid of anything. I'm just not going to cheat on Preston.” She bit her tongue and didn't add the words that she knew would be too cruel, too hurtful:
“I'm not going to cheat on him
with you
.”

Faith licked her full lips and opened her mouth to protest, but not before Buffy interrupted her. “I'm sorry,” the blonde said once more before turning and walking briskly off the dance floor.

Faith could only watch in disbelief as her slaying partner picked up her clutch bag from their small table and exited out the front door of the club.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Buffy stared at the spackled white ceiling of her hotel room. She breathed in deeply, but then wrinkled her nose. Even though her room was supposedly `non-smoking,' she could still detect the faint scent of cigarette smoke stuck in the carpeting and gaudy striped wallpaper.

After hastily leaving Faith at the Spanish tapas bar, the blonde had returned to their hotel and promptly packed her suitcase. Her bus back to Cleveland wasn't scheduled to leave until later the next day, however, so all she could do was wait and hopefully avoid Faith until then. She could have purchased an earlier ticket back, but she doubted Giles would have been pleased with the extra expense; the Council was already paying for two rooms for two slayers.

She had heard Faith come back a few hours after she returned to the hotel. The two didn't share a room, but since their rooms were next to each other, they shared a wall. It was hard to not notice the slamming adjacent door and the distinct sound of heavy boots being thrown at a wall.

The blonde closed her eyes and tried clearing her mind by counting vampires jumping over a pointed fence.

Buffy made a disgruntled noise and pulled herself out of bed. Her brain wasn't going to let her sleep apparently until she talked things out with Faith. The blonde changed out of her pajamas and pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. It wasn't that she wanted to dress up for the dark-haired girl; she just didn't want to confront her wearing fuzzy bunny pajamas. Her grand speeches seemed to lose their luster when her body was covered with tiny farm animals or food items.

Making sure to tuck her keycard into the back pocket of her jeans, the California slayer exited her room and knocked on the door to Faith's. Buffy could hear the sound of bare feet padding on thick carpeting as she waited. The door swung wide open and the small blonde was greeted with the sight of her sister-Slayer, her hair wild and her eyes looking bloodshot.

Buffy stared past the taller slayer and noticed the empty mini-bar bottles that littered the countertops of her hotel room. “You know you're gonna have to pay for that,” she pointed out disapprovingly. She didn't bother with paltry greetings. “I don't think the Council's gonna reimburse you for mini-bar alcohol.”

Faith shrugged and turned to gaze at the collection of miniature booze bottles she had amassed over a short period of time. “S'ok,” she muttered without emotion. “I got money.”

Buffy continued to stand in the hotel hallway and the Boston girl continued to stand in the doorway. “What?” Faith demanded when it was clear the small blonde wasn't going to say anything more. “What you doin'? Trying to kill my buzz?”

“No,” the blonde snapped indignantly. “I just thought we should talk.”

Faith snorted. “I'm pretty sure we've talked enough for one lifetime, B,” she noted.

Buffy pushed past the dark slayer, forcing entry into the hotel room.

“Hey!” the Boston girl exclaimed. “This is my room. You've got yer own,” she complained loudly.

The blonde marched into the room and sat on the corner of one of the double beds. She stared stubbornly at the brunette who, with a disgruntled look, closed the hotel room door.

Faith stood before the blonde slayer and crossed her arms across her chest. “So?” she stated, the annoyance palpable in her tone. “Talk.”

Buffy sighed and rubbed at her face. She normally planned her speeches. She hadn't really planned for this, however. And if there was something Buffy was good at was planning out each and every movement and gesture.

“I'm sorry I left you at the restaurant like that,” the Californian began.

Faith shrugged and walked toward the miniature refrigerator. She fished out a tiny bottle of vodka. “No big deal,” she scoffed. “S'not something new. Not like I'm not used to it by now.” She cracked the tiny seal on the bottle top and slugged its contents down with one large swallow.

Buffy ignored the instinctive urge to snap off a bitter retort. She didn't come over to fight with Faith, she reminded herself. She just didn't know why she
had
come over, however.

“Sure you should be mixing alcohol like that?” Buffy asked, gesturing to the empty bottles of whiskey, rum, and now vodka.

Faith sneered. “It's like Mom's milk to me.” She patted at her stomach. “Plus I've got an iron-lined stomach,” she boasted. “I can eat or drink anything without it affecting me.”

Buffy couldn't help but stare at the wiry girl's abdomen. Faith had changed out of her slaying clothes from the club and now wore only a short pair of cotton boxers and a worn wife beater. Her bra-less breasts seemed to defy gravity and the slight swimmer's V of her chiseled stomach peaked above the elastic waistband of her shorts.

When the Californian finally realized she was staring, she tore her eyes away from Faith's flat stomach and up to her eyes. Expecting the brunette to have caught her lingering gaze, she was surprised that instead, Faith's face looked unnaturally pale. Buffy's eyebrows furrowed together.

“Faith?” she questioned. “Are you alright?”

The Boston slayer's mouth opened and closed quickly. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth and she quickly turned and fled toward the bathroom. Not bothering to turn on the bathroom light or shut the door behind her, she lurched her head into the toilet bowl.

Buffy quickly followed behind and hovered in the doorway of the small bathroom. There was barely enough room for the shower, toilet, and Faith's sprawled body.

“Faith?” she repeated, her voice more concerned this time.

The dark-haired girl groaned into the toilet bowl and it made an echo-y sound. Her shoulder blades flexed, and she pulled her head out of the toilet. “Go away. Please,” the brunette pleaded, turning her head to look at her sister-Slayer.

Faith's face had regained some of its normal coloring, but her eyes were watery and her mascara was smeared down her cheeks.

Buffy ignored the brunette's request and instead retrieved a washcloth on the vanity countertop. She ran cold water over the cloth, just enough to dampen the small towel. She wordlessly crouched down, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet and reached out to sweep Faith's long hair away from the back of her neck. Faith's body initially tensed, but she relaxed when the blonde pressed the cool towel against the back of her neck, beneath her hairline.

The Boston woman groaned and her body shuddered as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the hotel toilet. Buffy deftly swept the girl's chaotic waves away from her face and held them at the nape of her neck. The blonde girl rubbed small circles at the base of Faith's spine.

When she finished purging, Faith wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand and grimaced. “Thanks,” she said curtly. “Can I…can I have a second to clean up?”

Buffy bounced to her feet. “Oh…yeah…of-of course,” she stammered, quickly leaving the small room.

Faith silently closed the bathroom door without looking up at the elder slayer. Buffy stood dumbly in the small foyer space between the bedroom and the bathroom where she could hear the sink faucet turn on. After a few moments, the Boston girl exited the bathroom with her toothbrush in her mouth.

“Feel better?” Buffy asked, giving her slaying partner a small smile.

The Boston girl seemed to flush with embarrassment. “Yeah, uh. Sorry you had to see that,” she apologized. “I-I don't know what happened. I must be gettin' too old to be drinking all that shit.”

The Chosen One gave her sister-Slayer a knowing smile. “Yeah, we
are
getting old, aren't we?”

Faith smiled broadly. “Yeah, but we still look damn good, girlfriend,” she winked.

The two stood in the narrow foyer in silence. Finally, Faith broke the quiet: “So, uh, did you…did you still want to talk?”

Buffy made a face. “Now I'm not sure what I wanted to say.”

The Boston girl gave the elder slayer a lopsided grin. “I know something else your mouth could be doing.”

The elder slayer took one look at the girl standing in front of her and burst into laughter.

Faith stuck out her full, bottom lip at the blonde's response. “Hey!” she protested. “Not exactly the reaction I was lookin' for. You're not supposed to
laugh
.”

Buffy stifled her giggles. “I'm sorry,” she apologized, wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “It's just…it's hard to be sexy when there's barf on your tank top.”

The Bostonian looked down at her torso in horror. “Oh, hell no,” she muttered. Her hands went to the bottom hem of her top, and she deftly removed her white wife beater, not seeming to care or remember that she wasn't wearing a bra. The dark-haired girl stood proudly in front of the elder slayer, wearing only her thin cotton boxers and a grin. “There, better?” she asked cheekily.

Buffy blinked a few times. “Uh…” The blonde swallowed hard and licked her lips.

She had certainly seen other naked girls before, but she'd never seen
Faith
like this before. Even when she had inhabited her body when Faith had performed the body-switch, Buffy hadn't really had time to really appreciate the Boston girl's staggering body. She had been too busy freaking out and trying not to get sent back to England, after all.

Faith couldn't help but smirk at the blonde's reaction. She took a dangerous step forward, narrowing the distance between the two slayers. “See anything you like, B?” she asked in a thick burr.

Buffy shut her eyes tightly as though wishing she could will the situation away just by closing her eyes. She opened her eyes when she felt the carpet shifting beneath her feet as the Boston girl continued to come closer.

Faith pressed her bare chest against the blonde's smaller breasts. Buffy sucked in a sharp breath. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“I thought it was obvious by now.”

“But I-I've never….I mean, I don't know how to…” the Californian trailed off helplessly.

The dark-haired girl ran her fingers along Buffy's jaw line and tipped her head slightly upwards. “It ain't rocket science, Sunshine,” she murmured.

The brunette slayer gently pressed her lips against the smaller woman's mouth. Buffy yielded into the slow embrace, parting her mouth. Faith's tongue tasted minty from having just brushed her teeth.

Despite her uneasiness about kissing another girl, let alone that girl being
Faith,
Buffy's body seemed to be screaming at her for more. So when Faith took it upon herself to deepen the kiss, the blonde slayer did nothing to stop her. She could have dwelled on the fact that the Boston girl had been heaving out the contents of her stomach just moments earlier, but the way Faith's tongue was boldly exploring the inside of her mouth made details like that seem unimportant.

Encouraged by the fact that the smaller slayer had not pulled away yet, the Boston slayer slowly led the way back towards one of the double beds. When Buffy felt the back of her knees hit up against a mattress, she knew she had come to a crossroads. Either she resisted Faith's advances, or she could give in. She chose the latter.

Faith was mildly surprised when the blonde girl sat down on the bed and scooted her body more fully onto the mattress. Instead of protesting, instead of offering a million reasons why they shouldn't be doing what they were about to do, Buffy simply looked up at the topless slayer and chewed on her bottom lip. If the Bostonian wasn't already in love with the golden-haired girl, she would have fallen for her right in that moment.

The dark brunette crawled on top of the mattress and positioned her body over the reclined slayer. She hesitated. She wanted to ask permission, but she was afraid that any talking might jolt them both back to reality and this would never happen. So instead, she pressed her lips once more against Buffy's mouth.