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Faith hates her past self.
Right now, she’s staring at her calendar where today’s date has “DON’T FORGET TODAY!!!” written in Buffy’s handwriting with a heart and several underlines, and she has absolutely no idea what she was supposed to remember. At this point, she’s just doing it to herself; she knows how bad her memory is when it comes to dates, and she’s still putting herself in these situations, because she was almost definitely there whenever Buffy added this note to her calendar.
Buffy walks in the room, and Faith’s just about to ask her when she says, “You remember what day it is, right?” She’s smirking, like she knows Faith is completely lost right now, so Faith does the sensible thing and lies through her teeth.
“Course, B, how could I forget?” she says, slinging an arm around Buffy’s shoulders.
Buffy looks somewhat surprised (Faith resents this despite the fact that it’s a completely valid and reasonable reaction with a long history of evidence to support it), and she smiles at Faith as she nears the door. “I have to get to class, but I’ll see you tonight, then,” and she kisses her goodbye. “Seven at the Bronze, don’t be late,” and when Faith narrows her eyes at her, she adds, “Just a reminder.” Faith watches as she disappears out the door, and she goes back to staring at her calendar.
What the fuck is happening today?
The day’s nearly over, and Faith still has no idea what’s happening today. She’s gone through all of the possibilities: it’s no one’s birthday, it’s definitely not their anniversary (she tripled checked that one), and she can’t think of anything else that would be important enough to warrant an all-caps reminder, even disregarding the underlines.
Buffy’s last class ended at five, but Faith guesses she went straight to the Bronze, since she hasn’t been back to the apartment. Now, it’s nearly 6:30, and Faith really needs to leave if she wants to make it on time to whatever the hell is happening today. She sighs and heads to the Bronze, picking up some chocolates on the way because it’s better to be prepared in case she needs a gift.
Faith finds the group sitting at a table, and as she makes her way over, she realizes it’s the same table they were at on her first night in Sunnydale. They’re all sipping on drinks, and it looks like Giles had smuggled her a beer, which she’s sure Wes approved of–it’s hilarious how lax the Bronze is about IDs and age restrictions, and she says that as someone who’s currently employed there.
She takes her seat, and Buffy immediately zeroes in on the box of chocolates in her hand. “You forgot what day today is, didn’t you?” Buffy’s smirking, and Faith drops the chocolates on the table.
“What, I can’t be nice sometimes?” she asks, widening her eyes innocently. “I got chocolate for you guys out of the kindness of my heart, and this is the thanks I get.”
Buffy, still smirking, leans forward and asks, “Faith, what day is it?”
She pauses, and she’s still very, very lost, so she gives the date instead.
“But what happened today?” Buffy’s still watching her expectantly, and everyone else is too (with the exception of Xander, who’s digging into the chocolates). She feels like she’s in a goddamn interrogation, but she can logic her way out of this (maybe). Buffy said something happened today, so it must be an anniversary of some kind. It’s definitely not anything in their relationship, because Faith checked (so many times) and the whole gang wouldn’t be here then. It’s not the anniversary of either of their callings, and Buffy got to Sunnydale in January… but Faith got to Sunnydale about a year ago, and now they’re sitting at the same table she was at on her first day here.
“Anniversary!” she blurts, adding, “of me getting to Sunnydale.”
Buffy looks really surprised then, and she turns to the rest of the group, asking accusingly, “Who told her?”
“My memory is not that bad,” Faith says, offended.
“You’ve forgotten every single birthday and anniversary since you got here,” Xander says through a mouthful of chocolate, and Faith scowls, stealing the box back.
“Don’t insult me while eating food I paid for.”
The table dissolves into squabbling, and Faith feels at home as Buffy loops an arm around her waist–it’s a feeling that she’s not very comfortable with, but one she could definitely get used to.
“Did you actually remember this whole time?” Buffy whispers as Xander and Willow argue about something that happened on patrol last week.
“Of course!” Faith whispers back, furrowing her brow in mock offense. Buffy arches an eyebrow, and Faith rolls her eyes. “...no.”
Buffy laughs, and Faith laughs too, and she seriously needs to work on her organizational skills, but it’s okay right now. She joins the conversation as everyone tries to get Wes to do shots, and she’s right there with them cheering as he throws one back. And when Buffy kisses her, her heart fucking hurts because she’s surrounded by people who care enough about her to throw a one-year anniversary party for her.
One year ago, she didn't think she’d ever be happy, and certainly not in a one-Starbucks shithole like Sunnydale. And here she is, one year later, with friends and a girlfriend and a family.
Not bad for an average girl from Boston, huh?